We have launched our new Zero to One series where we talk about the things to keep in mind when you are trying out an idea for the first time. We are doing daily articles and Twitter spaces.
Chapter 4: Speaking to users
Speaking to your users is the most important part of building anything unless you are building something you just to scratch your itch.
If you are building something for people to use, you need to speak to people who’ll be using your product BEFORE you start building it.
One of the first steps of validation is speaking to your users.
When speaking to your users for the first time, keep these things in mind:
1. Talk to them in their language
Do not use startup or technical jargon while talking to users. If you find out you cannot explain your idea without using technical jargon, your idea is too complex and you need to make it simpler.
2. Do not go to them with an Idea, Go to them with a solution
Do not go and pitch your idea to your users. Instead, talk to them. Get to know how they experience the problem you are trying to solve, in their daily lives. And then offer a solution.
This means that you do not talk about what you are building but try and understand more about the problem which you are trying to solve with the product of a solution that you have.
One of the best resources which can help you frame specific questions for user interviews is this book by Rob Fitzpatrick called The Mom's Test:
Here are the top 5 things that you should do when you are looking to start speaking to your users
Make an ideal customer profile
An ideal customer profile is somebody who is the ideal customer for whatever you are building. When you start making an ideal customer profile you should try and visualize one person who is 100% the person who is going to use your product.
You start with variables like gender age income interest psychographic profile.
You can use this tool from HubSpot to get started:
https://www.hubspot.com/make-my-persona
Framing Questions
Knowing what to ask your users is a crucial skill that all founders need to develop.
Always keep three things in mind:
1. Use simple conversational language in a casual setting. Do not make it a meeting.
2. Focus on their problems and get to know as many details about them as you can.
3. You are collecting feedback and not selling your product at this stage. Remember that prioritize gaining useful information over making conversions.
As we have already recommended The Mom Test, here’s a small video outlining this process:
Interview stage
Identify 5 people who fit your Ideal persona and start asking them questions you’ve framed.
Ask them questions face-to-face if possible or use tools like Zoom or Google Meet. Do not forget to transcribe all your user interviews in order to access them at a later stage. Use can use tools like Otter for this: https://otter.ai/zoom
Making sense of the feedback
Now that you have conducted User Interviews, the more crucial step of understanding and generating useful insights from this feedback comes into play.
If you have framed the correct questions, this is going to be a cakewalk. If you as a founder are directly interacting with the users, you need to convert the feedback into actionable insights for your team.
Develop a practice of creating these documents to be shared with your entire team on a weekly basis. This will achieve two things:
1. Your users would feel heard when they see their feedback implemented in the product.
2. Your team would feel the real-time impact of their work and be motivated.
Loop it up
This is not a one-time thing or idea-stage thing. Taking, analyzing, and implementing user feedback is something a startup has to do at every stage of its growth.
So, set processes around it. Assign people. Don’t make User Feedback an afterthought for your team, but a priority.
FYI, we do this quite seamlessly in The Builder’s Club Product Showcase, you can check that out here:
For all thinking of building something
If you are thinking of building a product that can change the world, hold that thought. We have launched a 50-day boot camp for all those who want to learn the process of launching products.
In this boot camp, we ensure that you understand the process and the framework required when you are approaching any idea which you are in pursuit of.
We will be taking in only 100 builders. So, apply soon to secure your spot!