Every company with a product needs good answers to certain basic questions. This is true regardless of whether the product is an online application, a web site, a gadget, a violin or a boat.
How you go about answering these essential questions can make the difference between success and failure. Click here for a discussion of the right and wrong way to seek the answers.
- If you have a current product, how do people really use it?
- How do people use your competitors' products?
- What are the attributes of products in your space that delight customers?
- Will anybody care about your new product?
- Who are these people?
- What are the real problems that people want to solve with products like yours, especially the hidden requirements (the “must-haves” that nobody thinks to tell you about until after you get it wrong!)?
- What are the "enragers" (the things that will make people hate your product)?
- What do consumers think that your products should look, feel, and even sound like?
- How should it behave?
- Will people pay enough for your product for you to make money?
These questions all boil down to a single question... “What attributes does a new product need in order for it to be seen as valuable and appealing to people?”
