Validate it before you build it — Ep 4
In 2011, Yu-kai, Stephen, and I spent months and tens of thousands of dollars to build the first version of a product called RewardMe.
I had done some initial customer development by interviewing local business owners, which lead us to validating the opportunity.
With the opportunity validated, we launched the first version of our product.
We launched the product with 10 local store owners.
To our dismay, both store owners and consumers hated our product.
It was horrible.
Stephen and I sat down at a coffee shop and watched after customer after customer ignored our RewardMe pads. After a while, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Hey man, would you like to get points for your purchase today?” I pounced on an unsuspecting customer.
“Ugh… I guess.” he responded.
“Ok, all you have to do is follow the directions on the pad.”
This was not my finest moment in UX Design. The guy couldn’t figure out what to do because people don’t read instructions.
Stephen and I returned home with our heads held low that day.
I vow to not make the same mistake with Brrief: not only do I need to validate the opportunity, but the product solution as well.
The plan to validate Brrief
- Utilize Eventbrite as our event management platform: http://www.eventbrite.com/o/brrief-11081381457
- Utilize Slack as our communication platform
- Launch a series of Brriefs to validate our hypotheses
- Attract people to our Brriefs using Facebook ads
By leveraging existing platforms like Eventbrite and Slack, I can validate the product opportunity and product solution without ever having to write a single line of code.
We minimize costs by increasing the speed for testing our ideas.
The faster I can validate or kill ideas, the greater my chances at achieving our BEHAG objectives.
I feel like a scientist testing hypotheses,
Jun Loayza
