Are you considering the prospect of revising your current products? Do you want to improve them by altering the design, for instance, or by adding a new feature? If so, this can have multiple benefits for your business. It can improve sales numbers, attract a new target market, improve your profit margins, and so on.
To help with this, here are four steps to improve your products.
1. User research
Gaining feedback from users is an essential first step when it comes to product development. After all, these users are part of your target market. They are the people purchasing and using your products. As a result, they will have the most informed, invested opinion on said products.
With their comments and constructive criticism, you can pinpoint what issues they have with your current products. You can also learn what additional features they feel will benefit your offerings. While you’re unlikely to be able to appease everyone, this user research provides a vital foundation for product improvement.
Just remember: you require high-quality participants to supply this user research. To ensure this is the case, Angelfish Fieldwork delivers unparalleled recruitment to supply you with the right participants.
2. Decide on the features to improve or add
Once the research is done, it’s time to make the big decision: which product features will you improve or add? There are numerous aspects to factor into this decision. Customer satisfaction is one of the biggest aspects, as is your budget. After all, you can draw up a load of plans to improve your products exponentially, but if it fails to make financial sense, it’s not going to be viable.
Feature improvement is typically the easier and more cost-effective approach to take out of the two. These improvements can be subtle to make a product better overall, or the change can be drastic in an attempt to get a greater number of people to use it.
Adding a new feature is risky. As a result, it’s imperative you are confident this new feature will be valued by your target market. If the risk is worth it, however, it can prove to be a massive benefit for your overall sales numbers.
3. Put together a product strategy
Before you delve into product development, you need to put together a comprehensive, well-researched strategy. This product vision will supply you and the rest of your team with the details and guidance to complete the task successfully.
For instance, a clear product vision will note your product goals. It will highlight your KPIs, allowing you to prioritize these and understand which product functions and features to focus on. You can then devise a product roadmap that sees you reach your overall goal.
4. Testing time
One round of user research is not enough for product development. It needs to be utilized multiple times across the development process, and it’s especially important to do so before the product is released. With thorough product testing, users can identify any potential flaws with the new design. These can then be ironed out before the product goes to market.
