Goal: Understanding Product Validation
To determine whether your solution—be it a concept or a real version—can effectively solve people's problems and whether they would be willing to pay for it, product validation is essential. There are often multiple solutions available for the same problem, and here, you need to find out if your concept is the best solution as perceived by those facing the same issue.
Engaging in product validation can also lead you to discover better solutions by gathering opinions from others, enabling you to refine or alter the original concept.
The Importance of Product Validation
Product validation helps you gauge and answer critical questions, including:
- Does this product really solve the identified problem in the market?
- Illustrate your solution and observe the initial reactions when people first learn about it.
- Is your solution intuitive to use, or will people hesitate to engage with it?
- Is your solution addressing the problem partially or fully?
- Observe user interactions with your product to identify common symptoms, problems, and patterns.
- If your product doesn't seem to solve the problem, could there be a better approach?
- Encourage users to interact with competitors' products to uncover gaps that your solution can fill.
- What aspects of your product appeal most to your target audience?
- What elements are the most challenging to use?
- How significant is the interest in your product or solution?
- What price point are people willing to pay for your product?
- Which features should or shouldn’t be included in your product?
- How do users rank the importance of various features within your product?
Select the questions you want to explore and craft your hypothesis around them. Don’t forget to forecast an expected outcome before collecting any data. Here are some questions to consider for your product validation process:
- What do you think could be done to help you with the problem?
- What would your ideal solution to this problem look like?
- If you could wave a magic wand and instantly have any imaginable solution, what would it look like?
- What do you think of this product?
- Would this product solve your problem?
- How likely are you to tell your friends about this product?
- Would you ever use this product?
- Would you be willing to start using this right away?
- What might prevent you from using this product? Potential hurdles might include budget, time, perceived value, or competition.
- Will you pay $X for this product?
- What improvements could be made to this product?
- What would make you want to recommend this product to your friends?
- What’s most appealing to you about this product?
- How can your experience with the product be improved?
- What motivates you to continue using this product?
- What’s the hardest part about using this product?
- What features do you wish the product had?
Continuous Product Validation
Product validation is not a one-off process. In fact, successful companies incorporate product validation as a core component of their product development and improvement strategy. The methods of validation used prior to launching the product may differ from those employed afterward.
Takeaways from Product Validation
The key takeaways from conducting product validation are:
- The product effectively solves the identified problem.
- People are willing to pay for the product as a solution.
- There is a strong desire to use the product.
- You gain a clear understanding of how the product should look based on feedback from the target audience.
- You develop an understanding of the ranking of importance for different features, allowing you to prioritize what matters most.
By focusing on product validation, you enhance your ability to create a solution that truly meets the needs of your audience.