For an entrepreneur, designing a new product is both exciting and nerve-racking. A new idea comes to you and after much research and brainstorming, you start developing a prototype and the final product soon after. Developing a product and launching it into the market can be daunting, but there are steps we can take to ensure we release a perfect product for customers to enjoy.
Before you launch, be sure to complete these 3 steps to perfect your product!
1. Do alpha testing.
You’ve identified user pain points and designed a product to address those pain points. Now, it’s time to do some internal testing to fix any obvious bugs. You can ask your employees or family members to test the product and give you their feedback.
2. Do beta testing.
While alpha testing involves internal checking of the product by the developers themselves, beta testing often involves a small group of end-users testing the product and providing their feedback. This step helps you discover less obvious bugs that may have been overlooked. It allows you to improve the usability of your product prior to your launch. Yes, how the product should be used is obvious to you as the designer, but is it obvious to a customer who has never set eyes on it? This is what you’ll be testing in this step. We’ll dive deeper into the specifics of beta testing in the next newsletter.
3. Tweak your product based on user feedback.
If your beta testers identified any problems, this is the step where you work on overcoming those issues and refining your product. It’s easy to get carried away with the various suggestions provided by customers. Focus on refining your product’s core function first. Sure, a toaster with Bluetooth sounds great, but it’s no use to anyone if it doesn’t toast bread properly. Once you perfect your product’s core function, look through the other suggestions provided and decide what’s doable given your budget and resources.
Follow these 3 steps, and you’ll soon have a perfect product to launch!
Let’s soar,
