Truly great products are not designed by their consumers. Rather, they lead them to new places.
Recently, Jeff Weiner posted an excellent article entitled What Makes a Truly Great Product Great. Not only did it cover most all of what can be considered in the development process, it spoke to an attitude to be carried by those tasked with developing new products.
He neatly outlined the 5 clear and specific dimensions all great products have in common...
The 5 Dimensions listed in Jeff's article are as follows:
- Delivers on a singular value proposition in a world-class way
- Simple, intuitive and anticipates needs
- Exceeds expectations
- Emotionally resonates
- Changes the user's life for the better
As a market researcher who has been focused on product development research and teaming with individuals who are making great products, I immediately ask myself, "Where does market research fit into the attribute list above? How does one enlist the voice of the customer in the process?"
Some would argue that it doesn't, that you can't rely on customer feedback to design great products.
As Henry Ford famously said, "If I gave my customers what they asked for, I would have designed a faster horse."
Henry Ford, like other visionaries, knew that excellent products that are discontinuous or disruptive are never designed by end users at large.
However, they are designed through a deep connection with the target audience.
One that is deep enough to know them so well that you understand what is meaningful to them and how their life can be changed for the better using your potential new product.
This is a market research process most certainly.
Customers are not product development experts; they just need to be intimately known by product development experts.
For more details on how to address unarticulated needs for your target audience, please download our white paper entitled "Using Primary Research to Uncover Unarticulated Product Needs".
