Shortly after we started dating, I decided to impress Grace on her birthday by taking her to Horizons Restaurant located on top of Burnaby Mountain. It had great food, amazing view, and a high price menu to match... so I figure it must be a winner.
Imagine my surprise when my sweetheart told me she didn't want to go there -- she did not want me to spend all that money "just for the view". After all, we did just spent 4 years attending Simon Fraser University, on top of the same mountain.
Instead she chose the Shanghai Paramount, a popular Chinese restaurant in Vancouver. It had authentic Chinese food, a value price menu, and NO view.
Well, it was her birthday (and I didn't mind the savings).
Your customers will happily tell you what they think of your product or service. Take the time to ask, then listen. You can do this on your own. No need to hire a market research firm or a product design team. It's no more difficult than asking someone where they want to go for dinner.
Talk to enough customers and you'll know the features they really want -- and don't want -- to pay for. It will save you time, money and heartache in your product design process.
How do you know if you finally have the right product design? Ask for a pre-order.
If enough customers are willing to pre-order your product, then you know you have a winner.
If you can't get enough pre-orders, then spend more time talking and listening to your customers. They are eager to help you because they have problems that need solutions.
I'll talk more about product design in the next post.