9 Easy Ways to Test Product Before you Actually Build It

You must avoid temptation when building new products. Pause, take a breath and test first. That's right! As tempting as it may be to make stuff immediately, invest the time to validate your thinking, and you'll find that developing and launching your app, product, or service is way more efficient and risk-free. Said differently, spend some time doing Product Discovery.

So let's make it super easy to try Product Discovery techniques and practices; if you'd like to validate your idea further, check out our brand new Product Discovery course.

1. Create a Vision statement that your core team sign up for

Engage your employees in creating the vision for your company. Ask for their thoughts and ideas on where they see the company going. Then you ask them to sign the vision statement and put it on the wall. If you can't pass the vision test with employees, your product idea is undoubtedly not worth building.

2. Check your strategy with an independent expert

So you think your idea is revolutionary? Gamer changer, I hear you scream on your multicoloured PowerPoint slide. Well, maybe you should check that assumption out. See you if you articulate why you have the next Spotify or Netflix - rather than a small defensive play in a crowded industry. By reviewing with external experts, you can avoid some wishful thinking.

3. Map your product idea with at least two trends

Validating your new product with the latest business or consumer trends is vital in ensuring its success. You can do market research, interview - even do a competitor analysis. But can you establish a consumer and a business trend for your idea? For example, ChatGPT touches several trends: Chat as an interface, ML, AI, NLP and many more.

4. Match up your internal data with industry standards?

You can compare your data with industry benchmarks such as NPS and SUS. Let's use Net Promoter Score as an example. A decent score needs to be above 0, but you are doing well if you can get over 50.

For SUS, System Usability Score, you can deeply compare product and user experience. For example, if the product tracks under 60/100, that's a poor score.

SUS and NPS are robust ways to validate your data with the industry.

5 Create a weighted SWOT Analysis

Scoring a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis can help you prioritize the information gathered during the study and determine which factors impact your business or project most. By scoring, you may find way too many weaknesses in the idea.

6. Build a Lean Business Canvas

Completing a Lean canvas is pretty straightforward. The test you should not brush over is the 'Unfair Advantage'. An unfair advantage in the context of a lean startup refers to a unique advantage that a company has over its competitors, which cannot be easily replicated. Examples are IP, Data and unique channels.

7. Survey your users

A user survey is a valuable tool for testing a product because it allows you to gather feedback and insights directly from your target market. By surveying users, you can learn about their needs, wants, pain points, and opinions on your product. This information can help you validate your product concept, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions about the development and design of your product.

In addition, a well-designed user survey can provide valuable data that work to optimize your product and improve the user experience. By incorporating user feedback into the development process, you can increase the chances of creating a successful product that meets the needs of your target market.

8. Interview your users

A user interview is a valuable tool for testing a product because it provides an opportunity for in-depth, qualitative research. User interviews involve speaking directly with potential or current users of your product to gather information about their needs, experiences, and opinions.

This type of research can help you validate your product concept, identify areas for improvement, and gain a deeper understanding of your target market. User interviews are beneficial for gaining insights into user behaviours, motivations, and pain points, which can inform the development and design of your product. By incorporating user feedback from interviews into the development process, you can increase the chances of creating a successful product that meets the needs of your target market.

9. Prototype with your users

Prototyping with users is a valuable tool for testing a product idea because it provides an opportunity for early-stage user feedback. By creating a physical or digital prototype of your product and testing it with users, you can gain valuable insights into their experience and gather feedback on the product's usability, functionality, and design.

This type of testing can help you validate your product concept, identify areas for improvement, and make informed decisions about the development and design of your product. Prototyping with users can also provide a powerful way to communicate your vision and bring your product to life, making it easier to gather buy-in and feedback from stakeholders. By incorporating user feedback from prototyping into the development process, you can increase the chances of creating a successful product that meets the needs of your target market.

When in doubt, test with users

Testing your product idea before you build it is crucial for ensuring the success of your product and avoiding costly mistakes. By testing your concept early on, you can validate your assumptions, gather feedback from potential users, and make informed decisions about the development and design of your product. This process can help you identify potential flaws, refine your product concept, and increase the chances of creating a successful product that meets the needs of your target market.

Testing your product idea can take many forms, including user surveys, interviews, and prototyping. Each method provides valuable insights that can inform the development process and help you make informed decisions about your product. By gathering feedback from users, you can ensure that your product is solving a real problem and that there is a demand for it in the market.

In addition, testing your product idea early on can save you time and resources in the long run. By identifying potential issues and making changes before you begin the development process, you can avoid the cost and time required to make changes later. This identification can also reduce the risk of developing a product that does not meet the needs of your target market, which can result in significant losses in terms of time, money, and resources.

In conclusion, testing your product idea before you build it is an essential step in the development process that can help you create a successful product that meets the needs of your target market. By gathering user feedback, validating your assumptions, and making informed decisions, you can increase the chances of success and avoid costly mistakes.