Does the product make the customer or does the customer make the product?
Who makes who, does the product make the customer or does the customer make the product?
Scenario 1
Imagine that you have built a product based on an idea you had, and then you launch it to the market and it has been so successful that you get 10,000 users to register and start using your product.
That being the case, what comes next, creating or adding new features and functionality to your product based on the customer or your business plan?
Scenario 2
You then discover that your idea is not bad in itself and that users like and want the product, but that the idea, i.e. your core idea, the Why and What you built the product for, does not really satisfy the users and that they expect a lot of things that they would like to see in your product. In this case, do you follow your business plan and flood your product with features that only you have in mind and are contemplated in your business plan or do you build based on the user?
So, after all that said, what do you think? who makes who?
Final note: This is just a thoughtful article for all those who are going to launch or are about to launch their Service, business or Startup. Nothing technical or scientific, just a little reminder to always keep an open mind and see beyond your idea.
Customer makes the product; the "idea"/"business plan" must solve what they need.
Henry Ford put it in simple words:
"If I would have asked what people wanted, they would have said faster horses" (instead of cars)
Your customers will point you towards a pain point, but you should not take their words literally. If someone asks you "please sell us faster horses", you don't go out and try to breed this type of horse. Instead, you read between the lines and solve for the problem.
Ask: Faster horses
Problem: Need for faster transportation
Solution (Product): Machine that moves twice as fast as a horse (cars)
+1, people don't know what they want.
Hahahaha you think?
I think that in part they do know what they want, but with so many options to choose from it is hard for the user to decide.
If you need a shirt and you know you want it in yellow with big letters on the front, then you know that's what you want. Now it's a different case when you go to the store to buy the shirt and they give you 50 options of yellow shirts with letters on the front and now you can't decide which one you want. In the end you know you want the shirt, what you don't know is which one to choose.
Okay But in this case, you know what you want and it's just a question of "which one do I want to choose ?".
I think we are talking about disruptive innovations (product or process) because that case of innovation wasn't used or explored before people don't know that they need it because they never experienced something like that.
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Examples History: Apple/ Microsoft OS, Cars, Phones ...
Examples Future: Web3, Blockchain, AI...
if you have an idea that is a completely new, and blue ocean -> product make the
customer
if you want to solve a specific problem in a niche -> customer make the product
Correct me if I am wrong!
Oh, I totally agree with you Alejandro. Sometimes the client doesn't know how to express what they really want or it bothers them and they may express it in the form of analogies or the best way their thinking can express it and that's where we get to try to understand what's behind their comments.
Thanks for your comment Alejandro!
I'd say a customer in most cases. But there are situations when you have a crazy idea, but people don't know they have a demand for it yet.
An example:
When the escape rooms business was making its first steps, people didn't know what escape rooms were in essence. But people knew they loved movies, the Harry Potter universe, or whatever scenarios they play in escape rooms today. Business owners just targeted people, who loved the entertainment.
Still, it feels like there was a demand for entertainment and customers waited for more options, but not exactly for this one. Hope it makes sense.
I'd say that the customers make the product.
They have a desire and you have the product to fulfil it.
People buy what they want not what they need.
There are cases which may seem opposing...
Taking FB as an example, it wasn't the first social media platform, the originators created the demand (customers wanting a product) which meant that customers knew what they were 'buying' into!
this is very detailed articel @Alex0101
Thank u! Eric
I think for the second scenario the answer is obvious enough that I don't have to explain it too much: serve the customer. The first one is also a no brainer.
What I think a more important question to ask is: in what ways should I incorporate customer feedback, if at all?
For example, if a customer is upset that their pickup truck doesn't have a tank turret, then it's obviously garbage that you don't have to pay attention to. But if your customers complain about the airbags not working, then you've got a major problem.
I think you should consider resource constraints before following customer feedback. If customer feedback demands you change your product to a large degree, then you would need to expend a large amount of resources to pivot and change your business.
If the level of customer loss or dissatisfaction will cause you to lose less money than a pivot, then the obvious choice is to continue with your business plan despite being slightly worse for customers.
If customers are very dissatisfied and want a large overhaul, then it might make sense to pivot.
Oh wow Gabriel, thank you. No doubt in my article let's say I give myself the answer to what I ask hahahaha. But I didn't pay much attention to it, I just wanted to reflect on it for a while.
The title: 'in what ways should I incorporate customer feedback, if at all?' is certainly great, it gives a lot to think about, I hope to use it at some point to create an article around it. So give me your permission right now hahahaha
Thanks for your comment Richard, I appreciate it.
Feel free to use anything I post even without asking Alex haha. I'm just providing help for anyone I can.
If you're got the time, feel free to follow the product I'm working on: https://www.indiehackers.com/product/evoke
It's an API for various AI that allows you to access them on the cloud.
Oh, of course I did Ricardo. In fact a few weeks ago my mind was grazing the idea of starting some project using some Open source AI of course.
By the way, I went to the website and apparently it's down or they don't create a website yet right?
Yep. The website is not up yet. We're still developing. Once we release, you'll definitely see it!