The Danger of Thinking You Know Your Customers

As a digital leader, you know that understanding your customers is essential for the success of any digital innovation, product or service.

You have teams dedicated to analyzing customer data, conducting surveys, and collecting feedback. You have key account (or relationship) managers who are in constant communication with your customers.?

And you yourself may even put on your customer's shoes from time to time to gain a better understanding of their perspective.

But have you ever stopped to question whether you truly understand your customers?

The truth is, putting yourself in your customer's shoes is not the same as actually being a customer.

Knowing vs. Understanding

You may know your customers, but do you truly understand them??

Understanding goes beyond knowing their demographics, their purchasing habits, and their preferences. Understanding requires dissecting their deepest needs and desires. It means knowing what motivates them, what they fear, what they hope for, and what they value.

To truly understand your customers, you need to step outside of your own perspective and immerse yourself in theirs. You need to see the world through their eyes, feel what they feel, and experience what they experience.

The Danger of Thinking You Know

The danger of thinking you know your customers is that it can be the biggest obstacle to uncovering what you don't know.?

When you think you know everything there is to know about your customers, you become complacent. You stop asking questions, you stop looking for new insights, and you stop innovating.

It's important to recognize that your customers are constantly evolving, and their needs and desires are always changing. What worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. So, instead of assuming that you know everything about your customers, keep an open mind and stay curious.

Understanding your customers requires more than just putting yourself in their shoes. It requires a holistic approach that combines qualitative and quantitative research methods to gain a deep understanding of their needs and desires.?

Two powerful methods we use at Ginetta to achieve this, are User Tests and Innovation Acceleration.

User Tests

User Tests are a qualitative research method that involves observing users interacting with your product or service in a controlled environment. This can provide valuable insights into how users navigate your product or service, what challenges they face, and what they find valuable.

By conducting User Tests, you can identify pain points and opportunities for improvement that you may not have otherwise discovered. This can lead to targeted improvements to your product or service that better meet the needs of your customers.

At Ginetta, we conduct User Tests after every iteration in order to constantly refine the solution based on user feedback.

Innovation Acceleration

Innovation Acceleration is a quantitative research method that allows you to validate assumptions about product or business opportunities before investing into building a digital solution.

This approach can help you quickly iterate on your ideas and refine them based on customer feedback. You can do this with value propositions, potential new features or any other assumption you have about digital products or business opportunities.

At Ginetta, we use Innovation Acceleration to identify opportunities and validate assumptions before investing in building prototypes. This approach allows us to create better digital solutions that meet the needs of our clients and their customers.

Key Takeaways

Knowing your customers is not enough, and assuming you understand them can be dangerous. To truly understand your customers, you need to conduct research using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods.

User Tests and Innovation Acceleration are two powerful methods that can help you gain a deep understanding of your customers and their needs.

By leveraging these research methods, you can identify pain points, opportunities for improvement, and validate assumptions before investing in full-scale development. This approach can lead to better, more cost-effective digital solutions that meet the needs of your customers and drive business success.

If you're interested in learning more about how Ginetta uses these methods to create better digital solutions, or have any questions about user research, don't hesitate to reach out. I'd love to have an exchange with you.

Daniel Jordi is a Connector, Strategic Thinker and Business Developer, on a mission to bridge the gap between Switzerland’s Digital Leaders and the resources they need to thrive in today’s fast-paced digital world.

Through his work at Ginetta , he enables Switzerland’s leading brands to grow their digital business by taking a human-centered approach.

If you’re a digital leader looking to drive growth, improve user experience or find your product-market fit, let’s connect and discuss how we can work together to achieve your goals.