Customers Validations — User Interviews & Digital Reviews

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Receiving user reviews on B2C products is, on the one hand, relatively easy and accessible because of the wide distribution of product use. On the other hand, for B2B or B2C products at the beginning of their life cycle, getting reviews from users is more complicated. To achieve a user’s opinion about the system, the product manager should contact users familiar with the system and the industry. Sometimes a particular product is directed to several different target audiences, for example, a product marketplace field. In that case, the product manager should contact both users on the buying side and users on the selling side to attain an opinion on the system.

This article will present two aspects related to the process of getting user reviews of a product and gaining their users’ trust in the product. The first example will introduce the product’s review process through PM interviews with users while improving the user’s confidence. The second example will discuss ways to increase trust between customers and the product on a digital marketplace platform and explain the importance of getting feedback from system users.

In this section, the article will review how to gain the users’ trust by performing interviews with the system's users. Asking questions can be done in one-on-one meetings or online, such as Zoom, Skype, or Hangouts. The following is a list of tips for the product manager:

Before the interview

The PM should prepare for the meeting and make the contents, slides, and presentations. Each slide should contain a specific step in the user’s interaction with the system transparently and straightforwardly.

At the beginning of the interview

• The PM should allow the user to be the conversation leader. At this point, the PM displays the user a relevant screen, and they talk about it. The PM should explain to the interviewee that he is expected to be the interview leader, and the PM is in the listener position.
• The PM should explain to the interviewee that he is not on a test, and there are no correct or incorrect answers, as well as explain to the interviewee that the opposite is right. The product is being tested, and the primary purpose of the interview is to examine the system’s features.

During the interview

• The PM should let the user perform a task within the system. At this point, the PM should examine how the user is performing the task, without guiding and without instructing him. The PM should also focus on asking open rather than closed questions, the answer to which is “yes” or “no.”
• The PM should focus on emotions and feelings and not only on the product. The questions should focus on the user’s emotional experience while using some features. For example, “what are the feelings you feel while performing the flow?”, “How does this affect you?”.
• Furthermore, the questions should be formulated regarding actions taken in the past and not activities that will take place in the future:
• Future- “Would you like to pay for service X?”, Alternatively, “If I were to sell you Product Y, would you buy it?”. In that case, the user may answer “yes,” but in reality, the user will not perform purchase action in the moment of truth. This answer does not have much value because it is impossible to build an entire model based on assessments and prediction.
• Past- “Do you pay for service X?” Alternatively, “Are you buying product Y?”. In this case, the user answers regarding an actual existing need. Also, the user performs practical purchase actions.
• The PM should embrace the silence because it has a strong impact. A situation of silence during a meeting is not simple. Once the PM is aware of this principle and chooses not to break the silence, it encourages the interviewee to be active and start talking.
• Five whys method — The PM should ask the same question more than once. When the PM asks the interviewee for a reason — “why,” very detailed and profound answers are reached, hinting at the real essence of the user’s need. If the PM pays attention carefully to the interviewee, he can get ideas and inspiration for new features. The answers the interviewee answers for the first time are not the same as the third or fourth answers. When the question is asked repeatedly, it obligates the interviewee to stop and think of more profound reasons, which he did not think of the first time.

After the interview

• The PM should record the interview and analyze the answers at the end of the meeting, along with another team member, preferably a member who has opposite opinions regarding the PM. Our natural tendency as human beings is to approve our inner feelings with the environment. So sometimes, the PM may pass over some content. In that case, sharing the research with another team member can effectively balance the insights.
• The PM should analyze negative feedback and positive feedback in the same way. The PM should research the user’s experience factually and neutrally.
• The PM should summarize the interview and send critical insights to the interviewee. A quick transition of both parties about the meeting-summary gives high value to ensure mutual understanding.

In this section, the article will review a way to increase trust between customers and a product on a digital marketplace platform and increase effective means of getting feedback from system users.

In the marketplace field, the primary way to increase users' trust in the product is to receive reviews from them. The PM should characterize the platform to encourage the system’s users to write reviews and rate their user experience. In the second stage, the system should allow displaying these opinions to other customers. The data exposure increases users’ trust in the product or services it offers. For example, showing user feedback on a seller in the marketplace demonstrates that the product and the service are reliable and trustworthy. Sharing reviews based on real user experience, gaining trust between the seller and the buyer in this platform.

Another practical way that represents the ability to get users’ reviews and thus generate trust between buyers and sellers is in the product design aspect. The main challenge in the marketplace environment is to produce smooth shaping for both sides. The design should support the ability to update relevant details between the seller and the buyer quickly and visually.

On the seller’s part, the system should allow the seller to represent the ordering process's status directly and transparently and update if there are any problems or issues. In practice, the data displaying can be realized in the following ways: presenting a feed with updates or presenting a timeline. The timeline should display milestones and describe the product steps from the order moment until the arrival moment to the buyer, and of course, what the current status is. The system should allow the buyer to contact the seller for questions or feedback on the buyer's part. For example, implement a messenger in the product.

The product customer validation process should be performed throughout the whole product life cycle. Initially, to validate the idea, next to verify the user’s opinions about the MVP and product development. The product development aims to propose a value for the user and, of course, inspire his emotion and encourage him to use our product more and more. As an interviewer, the product manager’s role is to get to the user’s essence and fundamental thoughts. The product manager should also characterize an infrastructure within the product that allows the users to send their reviews and display it to other users.

Written by Maayan Galperin