Mulitple Prototypes, Better Feedback

I mentioned in a previous post that open-social development for products has been a getting a lot of press lately. Companies are learning that true customer insight starts by including customers and users in the development stage. Getting prototypes into the hands of your potential customers early-on, and iterating a ton based on the feedback you get, can pay huge dividends in the long run…but only if the feedback you get is good. One key insight can greatly improve your chances of getting what you want from your guinea pigs…

When it comes to prototypes, more is virtually always better.

One prototype is a solid start – it’s better than nothing, and has some value. The trouble, however, with showing someone just one idea and asking them what they think is that their answer is likely going to be tainted by what they think about you because you’ve presented an idea that you’ve (obviously) committed to. If they are a friend (or simply want to develop rapport with you) they’ll likely respond positively regardless of whether idea has true merit.  The opposite is often true if you suggest a single idea to someone who doesn’t like you (for whatever crazy reason). What you’re likely to get is an unnecessarily negative response or no real feedback at all. In both cases, the person you’re trying to glean insight from is less likely to give you the kind of quality, objective feedback you need.

Presenting more than one prototype, however, changes the game and guards against fruitless, emotionally tainted responses. A variety of options makes it possible to have a much more frank and productive discussion about the pros and cons of an idea because the subject has something else to compare against. The prototypes themselves become the focus (not you) and get pitted against one another.

Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman discuss the advantages of multiple prototypes I’ve paraphrased above and give a great example of this effect in their book The Ten Faces of Innovation (highly recommended):

It’s like your wife asking you what you think of her in the (only) dress she bought that day – it’s still a prototype since the sales tags are still on it, and it’s still fully returnable but that’s not the point. She’s asking about the dress…with her in it. She picked it out, tried it on, paid for it, and brought it home. You’ve GOT to like that dress, because she’s already committed to that choice. With only one option on the table, I’m either on her side, or I’m not…

…Image [instead] that just seeing the one chosen dress at the end, you had the chance to see 7 dresses earlier in the process as your wife hauls them into the department store dressing room. On the way in, she pauses to ask you what you think. This time, flipping through the options, you can pick out the same exact dress and say, honey, I don’t think this one will look good on you…You’re not saying she might not look great in one of the other dresses. Why can you speak the truth? Because you’re not trapped in an awkward situation where someone you care about has already put all their eggs in one basket. Likewise, it’s seldom a good idea to put your boss or your client on the spot by demanding a love it or hate it answer.

The Bottom Line: Offering potential customers or users multiple prototypes allows them to weigh the pros and cons of each offering and express their preferences objectively. By offering as many prototypes as possible within the limits of your budget and schedule, you’ll remove emotional friction from the feedback loop and get better quality feedback.