How to get help with a product idea?

[theade]

Hello. I am currently building a tech/digital product/app that is in-part aimed at small companies (1-10 employees). I'm getting to the point where I need to validate different approaches, features and solutions etc. The problem is I don't know how to get in-front of people to ask them questions. I don't have a huge amount of money to spend at this stage, but I can give £20 Amazon vouchers, or similar. Anyone done this before? How did you go about it? Thanks

 

[fisicx]

There are loads of testing sites and services. But they want cash not vouchers.

That being said, this might be a good place to start:

User Research & Usability Testing Platform

Lyssna is your go-to user research and usability testing platform. The best teams use Lyssna so they can deeply understand their audience and move in the right direction – faster. Get started for free.

usabilityhub.com

 

[Alan]

People actually like giving help if you ask.

Getting physically in front of people ( focus groups ) is a lot harder than asking questions digitally.

A well structure short survey will get responses.

You can use social media groups to ask for help for your survey, or your linked in contacts or your opted in mail list if you have one ( you should be building one anyway for your launch )

I am currently building

Depending where you are at, you can define a MVP and then start giving it away as a beta and get feedback that way,

 

[Deleted member 335660]

You might like to contact your local Chamber of Commerce and see if they can help you. They could help you set up a focus group or meeting with small companies.

 

[theade]

Thanks folks, I just started using the Usability Hub site, great suggestion.

I’ve tried social media groups, asking for people to help with feedback on small business FB groups, tradesmen groups, but without exception, my posts get blocked by admins as spam. It’s strange as I’m sure there are people more than happy to give time and feedback, it’s getting to them now that I’ve run out of friends and family.

In terms of where I’m at, it’s a no code prototype that does work end to end with some manual intervention that’s invisible to users. We’ve got ad words and have been getting traction. But there’s only so much we can learn from GA and visitor metrics. We reach out to people who have successfully used the site, but they don’t reply.

Will try the chamber of commerce approach - hadn’t considered that, thanks!

Thanks again for responses so far!

 

[Salifuj]

The best way to get help with a product idea is to brainstorm. Brainstorming sessions are often used in the beginning stages of designing new products, when there isn't really any idea what needs to be done yet. The person who's hosting the meeting should encourage everyone who comes into it just start talking about anything they can think of without fear or judgment - even if it seems unrelated at first glance. This kind of open discussion will help generate many potential solutions for your problem!

 

[theade]

The best way to get help with a product idea is to brainstorm. Brainstorming sessions are often used in the beginning stages of designing new products, when there isn't really any idea what needs to be done yet. The person who's hosting the meeting should encourage everyone who comes into it just start talking about anything they can think of without fear or judgment - even if it seems unrelated at first glance. This kind of open discussion will help generate many potential solutions for your problem!

Thanks for your reply Salifuj. We're past the brainstorm point. We know the pain points, we've built some prototypes that we think might solve those problems. What we're missing is feedback from potential users about whether they would use the product, feedback on the solutions, how much value it would add to them, how much would they pay for it etc. Ideally I need to do video calls with, say, ten small builders, ten landlords, ten shop-keepers, etc, to get some qualitative feedback before we go further.