Test it!
#2 - May.2021
The benefits of quick iterations to learn from customers and refine your product's value proposition is nothing new.
However, is extremely common to see product teams failing to follow this simple principle.
Some years I found this concept called Pretotype - named by Alberto Savoia, a former Google Engineer - and, since then, the concept resounds on my mind every time I'm testing a new idea.
The is approach is simple: test many times in a very short period, with the minimum of resources required. The value of these rapid cycles for product discovery is what makes strong product management teams.
Marty Cagan in his book Inspired takes this idea even further, setting the bar for strong product teams: 10-20 of these tests per week!
Here are some of the pretotype techniques that I particularly like:
- Fake Door: Test the level of interest of your idea. You can do this even before developing your product by simply pretending you have a working software (e.g. landing page with a "learn more" button). This can help you understand if people would buy it.
- Pinocchio: This is particularly useful for physical products. Create a dummy version of your product and imagine as you are using it on your day-to-day. There is a great story of Palm's prototype using this technique.
- Mechanical Turk: Great for software-based/online products. You simulate the desired experience by using real people in the back-end. When the logic is complex this technique can help you to learn before investing time and money.
Test it. Make it simple. Do it as much as possible.
