Alexandra Carmichael

August 23, 2012

Today’s breakout session preview for the upcoming QS conference is from Nick Gammell, a pioneer in the bright QS startup world. Here is Nick describing his session “How to separate user feedback signal from noise and incorporate into your product:”

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A couple years ago when I started GAIN Fitness, I began asking more experienced entrepreneurs and mentors about their processes for gathering user feedback and incorporating it back into their products. I’ve still yet to hear anyone describe a really clean and consistent process.

Most entrepreneurs and QS toolmakers are pretty familiar with “lean startup” product development concepts — minimum viable product, product-market fit, agile development, etc. Knowing these concepts is one thing, but applying them in the real world to your product (your baby, your labor of love…) turns out to be very difficult!

Couple the challenges of real-world execution with the iconic Steve Jobs’ widely known disdain for asking consumers directly what they want, and you’ve got a recipe for confusion.

While I don’t claim to be an expert in product development, I’m excited to discuss some of the concepts and challenges we’ve encountered over the past couple of years and lead a rich discussion with fellow QS’ers on gathering user feedback and incorporating it into back into their products!

Some of the concepts I’ll lay out:

• Defining (and re-defining) your Target Audience
• Your Team as your Core Audience
• Data Collection Tools & Processes
• Goal-setting & Measurement

I’d love for anyone who is involved directly in building products and listening to user feedback to join this discussion and share some of the things they’ve learned!