Feedback Driven Product Management
As long as you do not have enough data to make data-driven product decisions, customer feedback should be acquired and used effectively.
The problem with feedback
- Taking action requires enough of them.
- If not utilized correctly, they can become double-edged swords.
Acquiring feedback
Making product decisions requires you to shed your bias and intimacy with your product. In shaping and growing a product, you are blinded by those things.
Feedback is your eyes and may be worth a fortune. They may come as words, and in the long term, as data. Feedback acquisition should be prioritized as one of your key assets.
- Make it as easy as possible for the customer.
Place your main feedback CTA at the bottom right of your main screen. Clicking it should display a welcoming form where the customer can easily share his thoughts.
Furthermore, feedback CTAs can and should be included anywhere in your product. The only rule is not to make those feedback-engaging instruments interfere with or prolong the product's user stories.
Put them aside, include them in confirmation screens, and even better — let him share feedback when he encounters an error. Allow the customer to share feedback when he fails to achieve his goals or encounters an error. - Passive real-life demos.
During a demo, you demonstrate your product by following step-by-step instructions and displaying the results.
In a passive demo, you watch your customer do it.
What are you looking at the customer doing? Whatever. One thing you will learn from this session is the answer to that question.
1. Launch the product's main interface.
2. Stand up and let the customer hold the wheel.
3. Stare and take notes.
Remember, it is a passive demo. Do not instruct, do not hint.
4. Interview the customer:
What was his intention?
Why did he choose to click this first?
What did he feel when…?
What could have helped him achieve his goal?
Is there any need that the product is not answering?
A successful passive real-life demo may be priceless and be worth more than tens of written ones.
Utilizing feedback
Feedback can be either harmful or cause significant improvements, so treating them raw and taking them for granted can be risky. To extract the value from them, use the following toolbox of questions:
- Is the feedback representative enough?
One's opinion may not reflect the majority.
The first time you encounter specific feedback:
1. Ask your close circle to participate in a short poll. Sanity-check to see if this feedback needs to be addressed.
2. Shelf it and monitor whether additional customers will experience it. - Is the feedback in conflict with the interests of the product?
If the feedback conflicts with the product's core interests\values\abilities — avoid implementing it. Same if the customer who gave the feedback does not fit the definition of your target crowd.
To utilize feedback effectively, it is not important to ask whether the feedback is true, but rather what caused the customer to express it. The answer to the latter is always truthy.
- Did the customer's intention differ from the feature's purpose?
In that case, it might be a good idea to alter the feature so that its purpose is more apparent. - Is the customer expecting something different?
Although the product may be well implemented, it may not meet the customer's needs. This is when new features are conceived. - When instructing the customer, does it help him to reach his goal?
All that remains is to improve the user experience to be easier to use.
“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”
– Ken Blanchard
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