I'm launching one product every week! 🚀
I’ve spent a lot of time building products that nobody wants. I’m pretty keen for that trend to not continue.
So in an attempt to fix this, I’ve decided to publicly commit to validating one product every week… until something works.
If you'd like to follow along, check out https://1productaweek.com
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Don't want to be a party pooper, but don't you think quality trumps quantity here? How are you supposed to focus and really really own a problem space if you spread yourself so incredibly thin.
Hi, yes I hear where you're coming from and that's a valid concern. For me though, the bigger problem is working on problems that don't exist!
By launching 1 Product a Week, I can very quickly gauge market sentiment towards a problem - and I can then focus my efforts accordingly. If I receive a strong market pull on a particular product - that's the problem space I will end up pursuing further!
You can check out more of my reasons here - https://1productaweek.com/why-one-product-a-week
I was planning to do this later this year, but looks like you've beat me to it haha. Best of luck my friend, looking forward to it.
Impressive! Reminds me of a story behind Angry Birds.
Hey Calum.. I also kept building things nobody wanted - if you're looking to validate ideas before actually building things (the recommended way to do it) I've got a service where for $12 you can ask 100 people for feedback! https://scoops.io/ just thought it might help. Cheers!
I think if you're building things in one week, it can equally be equally counted as validation. That said, speaking to users is another good tool to have, so I'm all for tools like this.
How do you ensure the questions go to the right users?
Also, have you read the Mom Test? The examples on your site don't seem to pass that test.
You're right, if it's built really quickly and you can talk to all the people who want/don't want the product gets the job done just the same. The benefit of research though is you can get a better sense of the situational context surrounding the problem that may uncover better ways to solve it via product/marketing.
You can target your questions if you'd like! but targeting may actually work against you, it's better to cast a wide net and see what kind of fish swim in :) More on this here: https://blog.scoops.io/broad-is-good-d701b485cdd8
Haven't read the mom test - but I think you're alluding to biased answers. It definitely depends on how you ask the question - if you ask them "would you want a service that lets you rent out your home to strangers (airbnb)" you'll definitely get poor data.
If you ask "would you be willing to rent your home out to strangers if you got double the amount you could rent it for" - with an emphasis on the value proposition/problem investigation, your data will be incredibly useful as you can dig deeper with the folks who answered a certain way.
I was a product design lead for a series A B2C startup, we did a ton of research, it's all in the ask ;)
Interesting article! I agree that broad may be useful to get high level insights, but as you say you still need to scope it if the product only fits a certain niche - e.g. only homeowners can rent properties on AirBnB.
You'd then when to supplement that with situational context from a narrower group, which is best done through customer interviews - as you need to follow-up and focus in on specific points they raise.
I think your product allows that anyway.
Actually, the book describes asking questions in a different way than both your examples. Most people will say one thing, but when it comes to it will do another. Why? Because we're overly optimistic about our future decisions and we don't fully consider negatives until we're forced to commit to them.
He recommends asking people about their past behavior instead - as it's much easier for people to be honest about the past! So the question might become - "Have you looked at ways to increase your [rental] income?" or "Have you ever offered to let someone stay who was a friend of a friend?"
You can also supplement that by performing validation via a prototype (or mini-build). For example, reaching out to people and offering the money to have a stranger stay - and then pretending to book it with them.
Definitely agree. That's why I hate NPS, for my customers I always ask "Did you share Scoops?" asking them if they "would" is completely bias-prone.
A common survey technique to asking hypotheticals is attaching cost to it to give a rough sense of value. "WOULD you share Scoops if you had to pay $3 to do so?" If people say yes to that.. then you reduce a lot of bias.
But yes I think your approach with the Airbnb questions would yield great data too, investigating the JTBD and how they've accomplished in the past. I personally love Jobs as a framework (you may have heard of it, but if not: https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done) and practice it constantly.
Anyway I think we're saying similar things. Sometimes I do also find it's just easier to throw together a prototype and stick it in front of people. Depends on how serious I am about the project and/or the cost of building vs understanding the market first.
Great thoughts! Love these discussions.
Totally agree! 👍🏽
Great! I want to see how it goes :)! Are you taking them to market in a week or just minimal mvp?
Well, I'm launching them on ProductHunt if that counts?! They might be minimal, but they are working.
It looks great, very good inspiration! I’m looking forward to the updates :) keep it up!
I just signed up and look forward to your updates. I like the idea of validating quickly and then investing accordingly. I'm curious, how you decide what to build each week?
I mostly start with problems I face myself, because then I know at least one person has that problem!
So as I go about my day, every time I run into any kind problem (no matter how big, small or stupid) I just jot it down into a notepad - and the more I get stuck into launching and growing 1productaweek.com, the more problems I'm facing!
For each problem, I then try to think about possible ways to solve it and I'll only move it forward if I can - clearly isolate the root problem, explain it succinctly and can find a small enough angle to start attacking it.
That's awesome. Such a good habit to get into. I'm really excited and hope one week you end up hitting on something big.
Thanks for sharing.
This seems hectic. Good luck! :)
I liked the week 1 product when I saw it last week :-) I had a few questions: 1. How will you decide / make time for whichever options are worth taking beyond a week? Also, how many weeks are you doing this for?
The decision will be based on how well the launch goes, and I'll be documenting my thought process for each one on 1productaweek.com. If I want to take one forward, I will effectively give it another week. So I'll set a new objective, work out the minimal set of features to get there and launch the updated product at the end of the week!
I'm doing it indefinitely until something works!
Oh nice, sounds like a great approach! How come your first product seemed to get a good response but you haven't pursued that?
Anyway, I won't bug you with questions...you've got a lot on your plate with the project 😂Good luck!
beast! power to you! I'll make sure to follow your journey and try to help with accountability
Thank you 🙏, please do!
Good luck!
I did one Every5Week a long time ago and that was tough (all side projects though.)
Thank you! 😁
Oh amazing (and kinda crazy!), stay accountable by keeping us posted!
Will do! Thanks 🙏