Written by: Evan Goodfellow
An important aspect of market research online communities is gathering feedback on products, designs, ideas etc. While at the outset, feedback sounds great. Everyone needs to see how their product can improve and grow. However, when the idea is yours this feedback becomes increasingly hard to receive. Individuals who receive feedback tend to have a sense of feeling attacked, threatened and defensive. This is especially true in a small company. In this article we will look at the possible reason behind this phenomenon.
Your Kid is Not the Best nor the Fastest
Think about the coddling mother who protects or hovers over her kid. She doesn’t want him to play football because he could get hurt. When he comes home and complains that the teacher is unfair and that’s the reason why he is getting bad grades, she runs to his defence. She loves feeding him sweets and makes sure he never leaves the table anything but stuffed. The result is that the boy grows to be 30 and has developed a strange view of the world. His mother’s protectiveness has rendered him helpless. What the boy could have truly benefited from is joining the football team, getting hit hard and learning to hit hard. He could have used the scolding of his teachers who called him out on his laziness and struck fear into him. The rebukes and hard times would later go on to make him more resilient.
Your Idea isn’t the Best nor the Fastest
Creating a product has a lot of parental parallels. You have seen the idea come to fruition. You have accomplished what others only talked about. But now, you must realize that your idea needs to be tested, toughened up, told it isn’t the best and could use a lot of work. These rebukes and hard times will make your idea go on to be a great idea. Make your idea get knocked around. Ask for some honest feedback from strangers if it makes it easier. This is why market research online communities are great. Companies can get honest feedback from individuals that you don’t know. When you ask your staff, friends or family odds are they won’t be brutally honest with you and if they are, you will likely resent them for it. This is why qualitative research and quantitative research in communities can be so effective.
Smaller Companies are Harder to Give Feedback
Sometimes working in a start-up or a smaller company is more difficult to receive feedback. You have members in your team that you work very closely to. The need to survive and grow is much more intense than in a large company. This intensity can create stronger bonds, they can also create less honest feedback. When your coworkers are careful about critiquing an idea is usually a result of you seeing the idea as an extension of yourself. You think that when they critique the idea they are critiquing you. This idea of extension will end badly. Continual feedback and honest feedback in the long run is what will cause your product to be great.
If you would like to find out more about how market research online communities can help you, please feel free to contact us.
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