Helping you succeed with your digital product | Recovered lawyer turned product manager | Principal Product Manager - AI, Machine Learning, Data
Why your customers are lying to you (and how to get them to tell the truth) As a product manager, I've chatted with loads of customers about what they want in digital products. Their feedback is gold, right? But here's the thing: what they say they want and what they actually need can be miles apart. It's like the old saying goes: they ask for faster horses when what they really need is a car. Here's the lowdown: 💡Solutions, not problems We've all been there, haven't we? Focused on the quick fix instead of the real issue. Customers might say they want a shiny new feature, but what's the problem they're trying to solve? 💡Stuck in the familiar We all love a bit of routine, but it can hold us back. Customers often ask for features they've seen elsewhere, even if they're not the best fit. 💡Future blindness It's like trying to imagine the internet before it existed. Mind-blowing, right? Customers struggle to picture what's possible, so it's up to us to show them. 💡Hidden biases We all have them, those sneaky little preferences we're not even aware of. Customers are no different, and their biases can colour their feedback. So, what's a product manager to do? ✅ Ask the right questions: Don't just take requests at face value. Dig deeper, like a nosy neighbour, to uncover the real needs behind those requests. ✅ Challenge everything: Who says we have to do things the way they've always been done? Be bold, experiment, and try new things. ✅ Get them excited: Show customers the art of the possible. Paint a picture of a brighter future, and they'll be queuing up for your product. ✅ Data is your friend: Don't just guess, test it out! Use data to see what works and what doesn't. Remember, our job isn't just to build what customers say they want. It's to build what they truly need, even if they haven't figured it out yet. 😉 Have you ever bumped into this as a tech founder? Let's have a chat in the comments! #productmanagement #techfounders #founders
