Simplifying User Feedback

User feedback, it’s surprising how often it’s overlooked or ignored.

Seasoned Product Managers may feel they’ve previously heard everything they need to know to make a decision. New Product Managers may be in their first customer facing role, and gathering user feedback is outside their comfort zone.

Why is this an issue?

User feedback is extremely valuable as it validates that the features being built are providing value to the intended users. If users don’t find value, they won’t use them, and precious development time was wasted.

The good news is that with a pragmatic framework, and a few simple approaches to follow, building a user feedback channel is quite straightforward.

Go Get That Feedback

When was the last time you emailed a company letting them know how much you love their product? Likely never. A Product Manager needs to go out and get feedback.

If something in the product goes wrong, users will definitely let you hear about it. But a user feedback strategy shouldn’t revolve around putting out fires. This is a reactive strategy, and being reactive is disruptive to the team. Being proactive allows for proper planning, and sustained focus on long term goals.

Acquiring user feedback does not need to be flashy. Simply calling a user and asking how their experience is going often results in valuable, actionable, feedback. The intimate 1:1 setting allows the user to open up, as they aren’t being judged by others, plus the Product Manager can dig into issues brought up.

When collecting feedback for specific reasons, such as the design for a new feature, it’s best to speak to a larger sample size of users. This allows feedback from users to be compared and to see which issues are recurring.

If you don’t know where to start, talk to your support team. Support will have a good grasp of which users are happy and which are frustrated. Create a list that includes an even balance of both as it ensures the feedback is well rounded and unbiased.

Build Those Relationships

All users are different. Some will only complain, some will have no opinion, and some will provide constructive feedback that you can action.

Users who provide constructive feedback are extremely valuable. They can be called on to provide feedback on the existing product, and also for providing feedback on ideas and designs for future product improvements. As such it is important to identify these individuals and foster a relationship.

The closer the relationship, the more open the other person becomes. Ideally relationships will grow beyond improving the product. They give you a channel for intel on the competition, help you build industry knowledge, limit churn, and most importantly create a working friendship.

When the product is young, a Product Manager will likely be able to create 1:1 relationships with a large portion of the user base. This is not scalable, which is why identifying the users who can provide value is important, as it allows the Product Manager to determine which relationships to prioritize.

Scale Your Channel

Once you’ve put in the work to directly connect with your user base, the next step is to bring in tools to help streamline feedback. Tools should supplement, but never replace, 1:1 interaction.

The tools chosen should be used in a way that also provides the user value, or they won’t use it. Two of my personal favorite tools are:

• Trello: Trello is great for creating a public version of your product roadmap, and for floating feature ideas and design by your community of users. Basecamp is a solid alternative, but it isn’t free.
• Aha!: The feature / idea management functionality alone makes Aha! worth using. Feature voting democratizes the feature request prioritization process, and shows which future features are in high demand.

Both tools have a free version, although Aha! is only free for small startups.

Just like building your user relationships, driving adoption of tools takes effort. Until a critical mass of users are using the tools, they will need to be constantly reminded that the tools exist. But in the end the effort is worth it as it gives a scalable feedback channel.

Track and Prioritize Feedback

It’s important to keep a running list of actionable user feedback. This allows you to look for trends in the data, and record how often a specific feature or improvement is requested by users.

It is also beneficial to have other business groups, specifically sales and support, rank how much of an impact adding the requested feature or improvement would have on their job. This gives a well-rounded view of the overall impact a specific feature request would have on the product.

A good Product Manager not only wants to satisfy users, but also drive down support costs and make the product easier to sell.

Tips for Good User Calls

Setting up a strategy is the first part to obtaining user feedback. The second equally important part is executing. Without execution, even the best strategy is useless.

For Product Managers who have had limited end-user exposure in previous roles, calling users can be nerve-wracking. I’d like to leave you with a few tips that I’ve picked up through experience.

It Takes Practice: Having uncomfortable conversations is not something you can learn out of a book, it’s learnt through experience. The only way to gain this experience is to force yourself to have them. Like any skill, it becomes easier with practice.

Run a Tight Ship: Keep meetings short — it not only respects the time of the user, it also keeps you both focused on what’s truly important.

Find the Core Problem: Users will often bring forward a solution rather than the core problem, dig down until you’ve reached what that issue is. Focusing on surface level problems results in surface level fixes. Resolving core problems positively impacts the entire user base, resulting in a much higher return on investment.

Learn to Say No: What you chose not to build is as important as what you chose to build. Users will have lots of great ideas, but the Product Manager’s job is to keep the roadmap focused on the long term strategy. This results in saying ‘No’ a lot. Fortunately, most users also want what is best for the product, and are understanding as long as they are provided a valid explanation.

Close the Loop: Talk is cheap, if you commit to doing something for a user, do it. Creating relationships is all about building trust, and trust is built through keeping your word.

Make it a Habit: Habits are formed through repetition. Set a goal for a number of users to speak to each week, and it becomes second nature within a few months.

The Customer Isn’t Always the User: Especially true in B2B markets, often the group purchasing isn’t the group using the product. Find a way to reach the actual end users.

Thanks for reading!

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