Asking customers what they want is pointless and useless. Steve Jobs was right that people can't love (or hate) a product until they see it (or it's prototype). The problem is, though, we often don't know what a prototype to make or a product to build.
To find an answer to this question, we need to dive deeply into customer experience. I like ethnographic studies very much. We observe customers at home, at work, in their real life, and our job is to understand what problems and difficulties they encounter, often without noticing it. And this is where we can find an idea for a product or a feature.
This is especially true in consumer packaged goods settings.
There’s a great story in “Playing to Win” about a razor blade designer who was skeptical of the need for ethnographic research, and begrudgingly met with users in India.
What resulted was the best-selling razor in P&G’s history.
Many thanks for the article, Michael.
Asking customers what they want is pointless and useless. Steve Jobs was right that people can't love (or hate) a product until they see it (or it's prototype). The problem is, though, we often don't know what a prototype to make or a product to build.
To find an answer to this question, we need to dive deeply into customer experience. I like ethnographic studies very much. We observe customers at home, at work, in their real life, and our job is to understand what problems and difficulties they encounter, often without noticing it. And this is where we can find an idea for a product or a feature.
Thanks, Svyatoslav!
This is especially true in consumer packaged goods settings.
There’s a great story in “Playing to Win” about a razor blade designer who was skeptical of the need for ethnographic research, and begrudgingly met with users in India.
What resulted was the best-selling razor in P&G’s history.