Validate your product through direct user interaction

We all know it: We should validate our business ideas before actually building a product around them. However, I always dreaded this, for various reasons - mainly because I thought it's so much work...
After months and months of neglecting this most vital part of any founding strategy, I was able to articulate a step by step strategy about product validation which works for me, shows great results and is surprisingly easy to implement. The secret is - to no ones surprise - talking, chatting and interacting directly with users.

What I've done in the past - and what I see a lot of people doing - is, to start product validation around an MVP or at least a potential MVP. However, what I've learned is, that an MVP is only the last element of the validation phase - or often times only even comes AFTER the idea validation was positively done.

Furthermore, validating your product starts - and actually only works - with direct interactions with users. Again, I guess this comes to no ones surprise and is written many many times in literature and blogs of successful Entrepreneurs (take for example "The Lean Startup" from Eric Ries - it's full of talking points about direct user interaction). Nevertheless, for me this was always problematic - I always thought that this process of directly engaging with users is not efficient - and actually made me anxious.
One day, I stumbled upon the great book "The introverts edge in network" from Matthew Pollard (highly recommended) and there I saw it: The key element for any networking interaction (and user engagement is sort of networking) is to have a written plan of action. And that's actually the first insight I want to provide here, followed by my summarized action plan:

User-centric product idea validation

1. Write down detailed plan of action. Do not skip this point - I know it sounds trivial, but make sure to write down exactly what you are planning to do (see the next steps for some inspiration). If you can't write it down, you don't have a plan.
2. The next thing to do is to conduct research. Are there competitors? If not, it might be difficult for an indie hacker, as the market is not established. Is your idea really that unique, that nobody else thought of it? Or is there actually not as much need as you thought it is. It goes against conventional wisdom, but having competition is actually a good thing because there is a proven need. Write down the main players in your potential market, their revenue and main features and positioning.
3. After that - again research: This time, research your potential customer market. Engage in communities, learn how the people talk, what terms they use, learn about the specifics of their problems. If your idea resolves around app development, sign up for some reddit communities, sign up to dev.to and hacker news. Read comments, and - very important - engage with the community. Don't be a lurker - actively contribute to the discussions. This sounds so trivial, however it is a tremendous way of finding the specifics about the problems of these communities. This will help to refine and specify your idea.
   After you are a little credible in this community, simply ask for feedback about your idea. Nobody will steal it, nobody will be mean - this is a great, straight-forward way of getting early-stage hints about the validity of your idea.
   This by the way was always the thing which I dreaded the most. This sounds like so much work! But surprisingly it isn't. Simply sign up for 3 communities and reserve 2-3h per day for one week - you will get so much knowledge and insights! I guarantee you, this is one of the most important steps - if not the most important one.
4. And the next step is still research (yes, I know, a lot of research - but keep in mind, research is comparably cheap!): Use google keyword planner or SEMRush (or Ahref, however I don't know this tool yet) to research what SPECIFIC search terms are used to find products like yours. Very important - note down the best-running keywords - not the ones you like best.
   Come back to your communities. Use the phrases and terms in your posts and comments and see how the users react. Heck - even directly ask for feedback about them. Most people are nice and will help you.
5. Then, start sharing your idea, best with not too close friends (because they are too nice) in your potential customer segment. Also use your social media following. Reach out to whoever might be in proximity of your customer segment - and directly ask them about their problems around your business idea. Do NOT ask people in person about your product, and do not try to "sell" your product. People tend to be nice and will not be honest with you. Read "The mom test" for a short, funny intro on how to ask questions around product validation.
   Funnily enough, people tend to be more honest when talking in writing.
   Your goal here is to find, whether your product idea really tackles some needs. Make sure to use the outcomes of the previous 4 steps during your interviews.
6. After you carefully executed the steps above, this step is the icing on the cake and actually the decision maker on whether your product can be seen as positively validated. (Thinking about it: Actually it's the cake itself...) Based on your research and keywords you found, create a landing page. Make sure it looks nice and has good design. In todays world, this is somehow a deal breaker. Now, the important thing with the landing page is: You actually want to get some commitment. Feedback is also nice, but you are actually on the hunt for the sweet commitment.
   To get this, I suggest to add two call to actions: Invite users to either partake in a Waitlist or even better create a "crowdfunding light" program - where you ask your visitors to support you with some € and in exchange they will get lifetime access to your product.
   Here, you need at least some people willing to at least sign up for the Waitlist to know your product to be validated. Better of course are presales, but I think that a Waitlist is high enough of an entry-barrier to at least assume you will have some paying customers later on.
   By the way - be clear about your pricing on your landing page. Waitlist-users need to assume that they have to pay, after the waiting period is over.
   If nobody signs up, this still does not mean, that your product idea is bad. Change wording, research keywords, ask in your communities about why nobody is interested. And last but not least: Use indiehackers for getting feedback.
   (If multiple pivots are not resulting in any action - well... - look for a new a idea. Better to know this beforehand, than after building a product nobody pays for).

While I highly encourage you to execute all of these steps - also the rather research-heavy ones, I'm convinced, that the most important steps are actually step 3 - the deep and direct engagement with communities as well as step 6 - asking for commitment (and again directly ask your community-members for signing up, or why they would not sign up. Your answer is only a single 15 minute post on reddit or IH away).

I hope these lines find you well and might help the one or another in validating their product.

Resources

• The Lean Startup - Eric Ries
• The introverts edge in networking - Matthew Pollard
• The mom test - Rob Fitzpatrick
• https://www.indiehackers.com/post/validate-your-product-19-market-testing-and-market-validation-tactics-plus-7-tools-for-validating-df82ddf259
• https://www.indiehackers.com/post/my-method-to-validate-your-b2b-idea-582180c961