Challenge

I worked in a company where we had a product that was quite technical and advanced. It was rather  successful, but we wanted to increase our reach by making a more simplified and “plug and play”  version of this product.

The simplified version was designed with what we had in mind from the original version, and from the  feedback it got from the market.

Selection

Before launching this product officially, we wanted to make a “beta” program with some selected  customers. So this relates to a “learning launch”.

The idea being that we have a first version of our new simplified product that we want to put in the  hands of some selected customers to get their feedback about the product and the benefits it brings.

We wanted to do this because the audience of this simplified product was new to us. Our aim was to  reach new people that were not necessarily used to the technology behind it. And we needed to get  their feedback.

Application

In our customer list, we identified those who were using the original product. We presented the  simplified version and asked to be put in relation with people from their team that could be potential  users. Our goal was to identify people that has this need but that were not too technical.

We offered to provide these people a prototype of our simplified product and collect their feedback  on a weekly basis. We were collecting the feedback on two main topics:

•  Functionalities: we wanted to make sure their end goal was fulfilled with the product

•  Ease of use: since this was a simplified version, it was important to monitor the ease of use

This test launch proved very useful because we realised that we had focused so much on the ease of  use, that we neglected the “functionalities” aspect of the products. So it was indeed easy to use, but  did not allow most of our customers to achieve what they wanted.

Insight

The learning launch tool proved at what point we did not have a good understanding of the target  users and their expectations. It did have the “ease of use” of criteria, but by doing so it made it a bit  “unusable” which was unfortunate.

Most importantly it proved that we had overlooked the previous steps of the product creation and  that we were too confident about it because we already had an “original” version. So we thought we  knew the product and the needs of market, and that we “just” needed to make a simplified version.

Approach

This experience reveals the importance of the “learning launch” tool because it provides an actual  feedback, from actual users on a prototype of the product. This allowed to know rather quickly that  we had to improve our design.

This experience also revealed the importance of the other steps that could have revealed that we did  not have a good understanding of what our customers were expecting.


Challenge I worked in a company where we had a product that was quite technical and advanced . It was rather successful , but we wanted to increase our reach by making a more simplified and “ plug and play ” version of this product . The simplified version was designed with what we had in mind from the original version , and from the feedback it got from the market . Selection Before launching this product officially , we wanted to make a “ beta ” program with some selected customers . So this relates to a “ learning launch ” . The idea being that we have a first version of our new simplified product that we want to put in the hands of some selected customers to get their feedback about the product and the benefits it brings . We wanted to do this because the audience of this simplified product was new to us . Our aim was to reach new people that were not necessarily used to the technology behind it . And we needed to get their feedback . Application In our customer list , we identified those who were using the original product . We presented the simplified version and asked to be put in relation with people from their team that could be potential users . Our goal was to identify people that has this need but that were not too technical . We offered to provide these people a prototype of our simplified product and collect their feedback on a weekly basis . We were collecting the feedback on two main topics : • Functionalities : we wanted to make sure their end goal was fulfilled with the product • Ease of use : since this was a simplified version , it was important to monitor the ease of use This test launch proved very useful because we realised that we had focused so much on the ease of use , that we neglected the “ functionalities ” aspect of the products . So it was indeed easy to use , but did not allow most of our customers to achieve what they wanted . Insight The learning launch tool proved at what point we did not have a good understanding of the target users and their expectations . It did have the “ ease of use ” of criteria , but by doing so it made it a bit “ unusable ” which was unfortunate . Most importantly it proved that we had overlooked the previous steps of the product creation and that we were too confident about it because we already had an “ original ” version . So we thought we knew the product and the needs of market , and that we “ just ” needed to make a simplified version . Approach This experience reveals the importance of the “ learning launch ” tool because it provides an actual feedback , from actual users on a prototype of the product . This allowed to know rather quickly that we had to improve our design . This experience also revealed the importance of the other steps that could have revealed that we did not have a good understanding of what our customers were expecting .