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I disagree with this approach. Without at least a tangible prototype to show someone, asking people whether or not they would pay for a product tells you almos

by athst 15y ago

I disagree with this approach. Without at least a tangible prototype to show someone, asking people whether or not they would pay for a product tells you almost nothing. The natural reaction is to say "no, I don't need that." If you're not that passionate about the idea, I suppose it's a good excuse to not do it. But if it would be really amazing, most people wouldn't even understand the idea until they had it in their hands.

skbohra123 15y ago
Well, there's a need of a balance. But it's a good idea to first ask people if they want something you would like to make for them. You are making things for them, so ask them. I don't believe any more in the idea of 'you make it and they will come'. They will come, only if they want it. So asking them is a good way to save yourself wasting a whole lot of time based on your own assumptions.
- luke_s 15y ago
  As somebody that has made many things on the web and never had anybody come, I have to agree :-) These days there is so much noise on the web that I feel you have to be sure your idea really will grab peoples attention.
luke_s 15y ago
I agree that its sometimes very hard for people to visualize what you are proposing. One screen shot does go a long way. If there had been a more positive response my next step would be to create mockups and re-confirm with my target market that I am on the right track. However, I'm not so sure that peoples natural reaction is to say "I don't need that" ... personally if I'm in a forum and I see something that is of no interest to me, I'm far more likely just to move onto something more interesting, than to leave a comment. Before starting my little experiment, I was actually expecting things to be biased the other way: eg, people would say "sure, that sounds great, I would buy it" and then when push came to shove not actually buy.

by athst 15y ago

skbohra123 15y ago

Well, there's a need of a balance. But it's a good idea to first ask people if they want something you would like to make for them. You are making things for them, so ask them. I don't believe any more in the idea of 'you make it and they will come'. They will come, only if they want it. So asking them is a good way to save yourself wasting a whole lot of time based on your own assumptions.

luke_s 15y ago
As somebody that has made many things on the web and never had anybody come, I have to agree :-) These days there is so much noise on the web that I feel you have to be sure your idea really will grab peoples attention.

luke_s 15y ago

I agree that its sometimes very hard for people to visualize what you are proposing. One screen shot does go a long way. If there had been a more positive response my next step would be to create mockups and re-confirm with my target market that I am on the right track. However, I'm not so sure that peoples natural reaction is to say "I don't need that" ... personally if I'm in a forum and I see something that is of no interest to me, I'm far more likely just to move onto something more interesting, than to leave a comment. Before starting my little experiment, I was actually expecting things to be biased the other way: eg, people would say "sure, that sounds great, I would buy it" and then when push came to shove not actually buy.