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5 Do’s and Don’ts of Consumer Surveys
Customer surveys are integral to building your company by helping inform you what to build. They can also ensure that you build the right product for both your existing and potential customers, but there are some inherent difficulties with conducting user interviews. Built off of techniques from the Lean Startup, here are 5 tips to help you avoid those pitfalls.
1. Do: Work backward from your goal
First, define your goal. What are you trying to gain from the survey? Are you deciding on which feature to build next? Or are you still working out what product to build in the first place? Start with this objective and work backward from there.
2. Don’t: Underestimate face-to-face meetings
Your objective will inform who your respondents should be and how you should collect their feedback. Interview consumers about the pain points they feel with an existing product.
Place yourself on the road to solving their problems and creating a better product. If you need customer feedback on a new feature, opt for over-the-shoulder testing to understand what troubles the product can pose — it only takes a couple of these to get to the bottom of your product’s crux.
