I was watching Jason Fried’s talk at Web Expo 2.0 in 2008. At the 6:50 mark he discusses a very important topic that few people (in my experience) touch on. Here are the key points…
“Listen to your customers but Innovate on behalf of your Entire Customer Base”
“Certain customers will be vocal and as time goes on they will be more and more vocal”
“Be very careful at agreeing to everything the vocal minority says”
“Customers know a lot about what they want but don’t know what’s best for your actual product”
“You aren’t building for an individual you are building for a group”
“If you listen to just a few people you are going to have a problem”
“If you add everything that everyone wants you are going to have a problem”
I’ve experienced everything Jason discusses first hand. Customers always feel their wants, likes and dislikes represent everyone’s feelings. In many instances customers don’t actually know what they want. MySpace customers WANTED freedom to customize their myspace pages. Facebook came along and took that freedom away. What happened? Users switched from Myspace to Facebook. Why? Because in theory customizing your own profile page was great. In reality it was an absolute nightmare.
I believe this is often the difference between a successful website and an unsuccessful one. As a website owner you have to understand your customers’ needs but you also have to know what’s best for them and the site. It isn’t easy and takes a lot of trial and error (and analytics studying).
Here are a few things I’ve learned…
You will never be able to please 100% of the people 100% of the time
1 to 5% of people are unhappy no matter what you do. They are impossible to please and their only happiness in life comes from complaining.
A very small percentage <3% of your overall user base actually provide feedback
That small percentage is usually made up of your two extremes followers. Those that LOVE your product and those that HATE your product
There is a group of customers that provide feedback that represent a large majority of your user base. Identifying them is key. They’ll help you keep your finger on the pulse of your product.
Many customers will act as if they know better than you. If they knew better they’d be in your position. Remember That!
I wrote this as a reminder to myself. It’s very easy to forget the points discussed and as soon as you do you’ll find yourself heading down the wrong path.
I’d love to hear your experiences and thoughts on this.
Here is a link to the Jason Fried Video
Filed under jason fried innovation customers
