Customers have rarely been involved in product development in the past. This is surprising since they’re the ones that will eventually be using them. In most scenarios, feedback from previous models will have been used in order to develop a better version.
Currently, companies are finding more and more ways to try and get customers to provide feedback in real-time about their products so that they can make improvements on a continual basis. Food and drink companies are the most prevalent in these, with Walkers’ Crisps running competitions so that customers can vote for their favourite trial flavours. The peanut butter KitKat chunky also came to life after a similar competition.
But what about products outside of food and drink? How can they start to involve customers in innovation and ultimately create products that their customers love.
Get them to test prototypes
This is the simplest method of getting customers involved in product development. By getting customers to test various prototypes for extended time periods, you can be sure that your design is literally tried and tested.
Also, by completing this testing pre-launch of a product, you don’t have to wait until the next model is launched to make any changes, keeping the product current and resolving any issues early before it's released in mass.
Telenet, a Belgian telecommunication company, collaborated with 100 users of an online research community in order to develop their mobile app. In doing this, they took advantage of these users’ expertise and made 45 user-generated improvements to the product.
Other companies have tested their product with their target market in order to make sure that it is really suitable for long-term use.
Get them to share their own ideas
Customers will know about their needs before you do, so why not get them to share their ideas with you.
Threadless have a community of artists that not only share their ideas but get a share of the company’s profits. This means that they are producing some really cool and popular products, but that they are constantly growing their following by encouraging artists to share their designs. It also gives their products a design authenticity.
By building a community of idea sharers, not only do you give your design team some great ideas, but build a thought-based following. This will, in turn, promote the products that are produced.
Run competitions
This is another method that both produces great ideas and great promotion. By running design competitions, you will start to build customers’ emotional investment with your products straight away.
By keeping the competition process public by presenting the shortlist all the way through to the final design and product, you build a journey for the buyer that they can invest in. This acts as an effective promotion for the final product, as well as building the profiles of submitted designers and showing that your brand is on-trend with product innovation.
This also has the extra benefit of creating a recruitment pool of designers which you can start to engage with and even look to employ in the future.
Be more open and ask questions
By thinking more openly about your product design processes and collaborating with relevant communities, not only are you opening yourself up to new ideas but better end products, better promotions and potentially, a recruitment pool. This will set you apart as a product innovator and get more prospective customers engaged with your brand.
If you're struggling to capture feedback from your customers check out our eBook 'How to Put The Fun Back Into Customer Feedback'. We explore what it really means to make customer feedback fun and how to make the process informative and empowering for both your business and your customers.
