What are the best ways to learn from feedback on a minimum viable product?

Prior to launching your MVP, define objectives and metrics. This groundwork is allows you to extract focused insights: 1. Hypotheses Testing: Define primary hypotheses to test product performance and user reception. 2. KPIs: Identify key performance indicators like user engagement, conversion rates, and retention aligned with your goals. You typically want a north start/lagging with accompanied leading metrics, or Primary and Secondary metrics. 3. Success/Failure Criteria: Establish benchmarks guiding result interpretation and informed decision-making. By laying out these goals and metrics, you ensure that your MVP phase is purposeful and results-driven. It allows you to focus on the most critical and actionable aspects.

10 WAYS TO EXPERIMENT In my experience as innovation facilitator, experimentation is an iterative process, and it's crucial to be open-minded to customer feedback as you validate your innovative solution. Here are ten ways you can experiment to validate a new innovative solution: 1. Conduct surveys or questionnaires. 2. Organize focus groups. 3. Create pretotypes, prototypes or minimum viable products (MVPs). 4. Run A/B tests. 5. Conduct usability testing. 6. Set up pilot programs. 7. Engage in one-on-one interviews. 8. Implement feedback channels. 9. Monitor analytics and metrics: Track user engagement, usage patterns, and other relevant metrics to gain insights. 10. Seek early adopters and engage with them directly.

For our recent launch, we executed a strategic phased approach: 1. Alpha: Internal or limited launch 2. Private Beta: Invitation-only with a wider customer base 3. Beta: Gradual release 4. GA: Widespread release These first two phases fostered "friendly" customer relationships and an open feedback channel. Users felt part of an exclusive group, co-designing the feature with Product, Design, and Engineering. This vested interest ensures the feature's success, as it's designed by and for them. Another effective form of collecting feedback is to partner with internal stakeholders who manage Enterprise/large accounts and have a deep connection to the user. They are always ready and willing to collect feedback from their accounts.

Using an example of a fitness app launch that received a surge of feedback post-launch. To prioritize effectively, start by breaking down the segments: 1. Categorize by user personas (ie. beginner, intermediate, advanced) 2. Identify stages of the customer journey (onboarding, daily use, post-workout) 3. Sort by app features/functions (workout tracking, nutrition, social sharing) Prioritization: 1. Impact: Assess the impact of each feedback item. Example, a critical bug that prevents users from logging a workout takes precedence over a minor visual enhancement request. 2. Address urgent issues promptly (crashes, data loss, etc.) 3. Tackle quick, feasible wins Align the feedback against the long-term product vision.

We kickstart the process by mapping the customer journey collaboratively, using tools like FigJam or Miro. As we review feedback, trends naturally emerge, leading to intuitive categorization. Prioritizing key categories, we overlay them on the customer map to pinpoint impactful areas, forming the basis for problem definition and ideation sessions. This transforms raw feedback into actionable insights, guiding our product decisions effectively.