Success without customer meetings is veeery unlikely. I am going to be blunt here, if you are not running customer discovery calls on a weekly basis, you are doing it wrong. I know it, because I have done that mistake in the past.
Paradoxically, I have tons of experience running discovery calls and usability tests. The thing is, when it is about your product (slash side project, slash next big idea), not someone else’s, a customer discovery call triggers some subconscious fears. “The product isn’t ready”, “I’ll do it after shipping X feature…”
Last time a good friend had to push me towards running some calls. He was 100% right. The amount of usefull insights you can get from a few calls is insane. It is the difference between building something people want and wasting your time and energy. They provide…
1. Insights about what the user really want
2. Feedback on the root of issues not easily visible
3. Remove uncertainty
4. Motivation for you and your team
Users want their problem solved. If they are not being able to do it or get it, the “blame” is only on you…
In that aspect, they can also be brutal. Suspects you might have been avoiding, become blatantly obvious. (team or internal) product discussions you might have had, are suddenly very, very clear. Think in this terms…
it is better to face the problems with your ideas/products now, than build for months to discover after launching. My advice goes like this, go and get conversations with prospects from day 1. Before you start typing or designing anything…
Make a habit out of it, learn how to run them proficiently, become good at it. It will be more useful than any amount of coding or marketing you might do. It is something most people avoid, so you will acquire a unique, very valuable skill in the way. #buildinpublic
