What is product feedback and why you should start collecting it
What is product feedback and why you should start collecting it
One of the best things you can do for your product is to listen to the users. Not only current users, but also those who have stopped using the product, as well as potential new users. Wondering how to do this? The answer to that question is product feedback.
What is product feedback?
Product feedback is basically what users and customers tell us about our product. For example, they might share:
Feedback on the interface
Suggestions for new features or improvements to existing ones.
Information about usability issues, bugs, and technical problems.
Are you now wondering why product feedback is one of the most important things for your product? Let me explain.
It provides direct insight into users' experiences and needs
By gathering user feedback, we're able to understand how they use the product and what their needs are. With this information, we can build a product that addresses real user needs instead of delivering features that no one will use. Additionally, we can see how users actually interact with our product.
It identifies areas that need improvement
User feedback allows us to identify specific aspects of the product that require improvement, such as those that are unclear to users or contain technical errors. It’s important to note that these are not limited to digital product usability issues. Such feedback can also highlight, for example, unsatisfactory customer service.
It enhances brand perception
Through our commitment to user feedback, we enhance user satisfaction by resolving their problems and fulfilling their needs. This positively impacts our product's reputation, leading to higher retention rates and a competitive edge.
Product feedback loop
Activities related to product feedback should be an ongoing and cyclical process. We call this the product feedback loop. This process can be divided into three stages:
Collecting feedback
Management and analysis
Using feedback to improve your product.
Collecting feedback
Product feedback should be actively acquired by the organization, but regardless of our actions, it will also appear from the intentions of the users themselves. That is why we divide product feedback into two types: solicited and unsolicited.
Solicited
A type of feedback that is actively solicited. Usually through surveys, interviews, focus groups, or direct requests for feedback. These can also be dedicated pages that encourage users to leave feedback, such as this site provided by Apple.
In the case of solicited feedback, the company has control over the data collection process and can focus questions on specific product aspects. It is often used to measure customer satisfaction or gather suggestions for improvements. It is more structured and easier to analyze.
Examples of such feedback include:
Customer satisfaction survey
Product review form.
Scheduled customer interviews.
Unsolocited
This type of feedback refers to all opinions that users share voluntarily. It can be expressed through online reviews, social media posts, direct messages to the company, or conversations with customer support, and often reflects strong emotions (positive or negative) associated with the product experience. Unsolicited feedback frequently provides genuine emotional opinions that can highlight issues the company was previously unaware of.
Examples of such feedback include:
Customer feedback on sites like Google Reviews and Facebook.
Customer reviews on online stores.
Comments on social media
Management and analysis
Just collecting feedback is not enough. In the next step, we need to analyze the feedback received and take appropriate actions, especially in relation to negative feedback that causes bad experiences among product users.
Initially, we should categorize our feedback. A tagging method works exceptionally well for this purpose, allowing us to group feedback into categories such as performance, security, new feature, bug, or suggestion. Additionally, analytical technique like sentiment analysis is highly beneficial.
Categorization will make it easier to find your way around the large amount of feedback collected, transform the collected qualitative feedback into quantitative feedback, and allow for the analysis of the frequency of reported problems and suggestions.
You should also combine feedback with demographic or behavioral data of your users because not every opinion will be of equal importance. You should consider data such as the level of advancement of users, location, age groups, frequency of use of the product and information about whether they are new, current, former or those who have never used our product.
Once we have grouped the feedback and identified areas for improvement, we should prioritize these areas. To do this, we can use methods such as the MoSCow method, the Impact vs. Effort Matrix, or RICE Scoring. When prioritizing, we should also consider the product's business objectives so that the highest priority areas not only best meet the needs and pain points of users but also align with the company's direction. You might wonder if we should implement everything users ask for. The answer is no. Not every suggestion or proposal should be immediately implemented in our product. We should always keep in mind our current priorities and product vision.
When identifying what we should focus on and in what order, we should also consider both short-term and long-term goals. It's likely that we'll find quick wins—areas that we can address relatively quickly with a significant impact on users—as well as areas that contribute to the long-term development of the product.
Feedback Management Tools
There are many tools available on the market that help with collecting, managing, and analyzing feedback. Remember that an organization should choose a tool based on its needs and budget. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all tool that’s perfect for every situation, and it’s impossible to know them all. However, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with tools like Qualtrics, UserVoice, Medallia, ProductBoard, Zendesk, HotJar, Airtable, and Aha!
It's also worth noting that AI-based solutions are incredibly helpful nowadays, as they can quickly and easily assist with tasks like categorizing content and identifying areas based on the provided data. However, remember that these tools cannot replace gathering feedback from real users; they can only aid in managing it.
Using feedback to improve your product
Now it's time to put the feedback we've gathered to good use. Based on what's most important, teams will start working on new things, making existing stuff better, or fixing bugs. It's really important to tell the team why we're focusing on these things and show them what people have said. This will help everyone understand why we're doing what we're doing and build a culture of listening to our customers.
Finally, a reminder that the solutions we develop should be tested with users and, after implementation, incorporated into the next feedback loop, which will provide us with further valuable insights into our changes and product development.
Best practices
Finally, remember these best practices that will help streamline the entire process and deliver quality data.
Collect feedback regularly
Choose the right method for gathering feedback
Ensure feedback tools are user-friendly.
Invite stakeholders to analyze feedback
Involve other teams in product feedback
Build a customer-focused culture
Educate the team on the importance of user feedback
Encourage continuous collection and analysis of feedback
Ask the right questions
Ensure user segmentation
Communicate with users: thank them for positive feedback and suggestions, and also respond to negative feedback
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