Idea Validation vs Market Validation vs Product Validation
by vintuallyAs a primer for this post the various validations mean:
Idea Validation - When you're able to explain your idea and someone random can understand what you're doing (or at least get interested). If you follow business model design this would also include making sure your idea is desirable to people, viable as a business, and feasible to build.
Market Validation - When you're able to explain your idea to someone who you know will be interested in the idea because you've determined qualities of a potential customer for your business. If you were to follow "best practices" this is when you'd want to show 3-4 screen mockups and charge if possible (if you know the value of your business you will be able to deliver the value without a "full" product built out).
Product Validation - When you're able to send someone who you know will be interested in the product a link to a demo/explanation of the product that provides enough value causing them to purchase your solution and switch from existing solutions if they used any.
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When pursuing the concept of product market fit there are two major topics for you to focus on in your business: the product and the market.
Each of the validation steps below will be based on the concept of performing both product and market based activities.
Validating an Idea | ~2 Day
Idea Level Product Validation - Take some time to write out the idea and turn it into a Lean Business Canvas. After this you can create a traction roadmap to understand the profit viability of the idea. A roll out plan can also help plan out how you will take the idea and turn it into a product.
Idea Level Market Validation - Talk to friends, family, coworkers, and people online to see if they have the problem your looking to solve and what they think the solution is (you don't need to mention your idea, but try to get them talking about what they'd like in a solution).
By cross analyzing your product idea with the market's idea of what a product would be like will help you better align to potential customer's wants building higher perceived value for your product.
Validating a Market | ~2 Weeks
Market Level Product Validation - At this point you can start considering what your app will look like from a wireframe or Mockup perspective. Creating these wireframes then verifying them with people will help make sure your app will solve the problem in a usable manner for your potential customer.
Market Level Market Validation - You can make a few slides (6-10) to explain the transformation that happens through using your product plus the benefits (emotional) and return on investment (numbers) that users/customers can expect (if there's a difference between user and customer outcomes I recommend highlighting this). You can create a list of 100-250 people to reach out to on a platform of you choice (that your audience uses). You can then reach out to this list to see if they're interested in having their problems solved. If they say yes then run them through the slide show (and don't forget to ask for money at the end if your app will be paid).
Validating a Product | 2 Months (but use 2 week sprints for alternating between product-focused and market-focused work)
Product Level Product Validation - At this point you'll have an idea of what people are willing to pay for. Your goal will be to build it while staying focused on solving the problem for the people you've talked to. You can start with a coming soon page then scale into a 1 feature website/app and over time add new features (but should be done slowly and with verification from your customer audience)
Product Level Market Validation - As you finish the different stages of your MVP (coming, 1 feature, account tiers, etc) you'll want to consistently check that your MVP is able to be sold to your target market. Without market validation in terms of users, emails, or revenue it'll be hard to know if your programming time/energy will have the output you desire. Make sure to constantly market, sell, and support your buying audience so that you learn how to recover after dips in your charts (learning this can only happen by recurringly checking for dips in metrics and understanding/testing how to solve them.
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Alternatively
You can build a new app every week or two until one of them resonates really well with the audience that you're trying to reach (the biggest flaw here would be potentially forgetting to talk to your target audience so you can understand what they want/need)
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I've been using a combination of the above for the MVP I'm working on and it's help my team and I feel more aligned to the target audience we're trying to reach (we're also making sure to talk to them on a weekly basis through different channels like social, referral, and network marketing)
Any thoughts or questions on this strategy?
