4 ms·
Things I learned: Listening to the users' explicit feedback is almost always a) at best pointless, b) at worst incredibly disruptive (in a bad way). Watching
by johansch 10y ago
Things I learned:
Listening to the users' explicit feedback is almost always a) at best pointless, b) at worst incredibly disruptive (in a bad way).
Watching your users use your product (in person!) is almost always enlightening.
None of these lessons are new; I'm sure they've been around since at least the 60s.
- Timtimini 10y agoAgreed completely, Johansch. Re explicitly following directions from users being a bad idea, Janna Bastow (of Mind The Product) says as much in her section of the article. I think it's still important to gather feedback though—it's not the answer, but it can point you towards the right question. I think, in broad strokes, the opinions are always going to be the same—i.e. get user feedback and do usability testing. But the nuances in how each person does those two things (and various methodologies applied) is where we can learn from each other.
- johansch 10y agoRight. Don't immediately follow their very strongly worded suggestion for feature X, ask instead what problem Y they are attempting to get solved. Then use this this as one input out of many. But surely this is old news to any prospective PM?
- Timtimini 10y agoRight again. It is (or should be). I personally enjoyed the parts where people discussed methodologies (user stories vs Jobs To Be Done, for example), than the broad strokes opinions.