
The first people using your product are an amazing breed - joeyespo
http://leostartsup.com/2012/06/the-first-people-using-your-product-are-an-amazing-breed/
======
mdaniel
I would add that one must also _facilitate_ feedback - which I think is
separate from (and has a separate response rate from) sending out a "what did
you think?" type email. Plus, if you wait to contact me, I may have forgotten
the details of what I discovered. I emphasize to all my project teams: you are
only a "new user" once. That time is magic, so pay attention and stick your
hand up if something smells funny to you.

Further toward that facilitating feedback point, I may be a visionary, but I
don't want to spent 15 minutes creating a Bugzilla account and trolling
through whatever gawdawful bug submission process your project has. I will
send an email to feedback@example.com, I will for sure use a "submit feedback"
button from within the app or webpage[1], I will use a "contact us" form on
your website, and I might send a tweet if that's the option of last resort.

I said all of that to say I wholeheartedly agree with the article's premise,
but please ensure that you have greased as many of the paths of information
ingress as you reasonably can.

1 = With the assumption that such an action will carry with it contextual
information: where I was, what browser, maybe some session information -
basically the same reason anyone uses the "send report" button from a dead
Android app

------
tarr11
Good points.

I've seen people tune their apps for these early adopters, talking about how
they've got their "viral coefficients" at the correct rate (via product
improvements, design, marketing efforts, etc).

Then, by induction, they think the same metrics will hold true once they
launch to the general public.

Then they launch and are surprised to find that the numbers don't apply to
later categories of users.

I'd be curious if there's a model to solve for that problem.

~~~
tcwc
If you've not read it yet I would strongly recommend
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm> for more on this.

------
bhc3
For MVPs, I have seen this particular situation (it's a B2B scenario). Your
customer will use the product with their customers or users. So the MVP has to
be 'good enough' for not just your early adopter customers, but for their
customers as well.

Challenge then is that _their_ customers/users may not be the same early
adopter types. A work-in-progress app may reflect poorly on your customer.

MVP has a lowest common denominator aspect in this case. As in, what would be
acceptable to your customer's customers/users? Seems to raise the bar on what
is needed for a minimum viable product.

------
loceng
The first people are amazing if you are solving a problem point that they've
been 'suffering.' That's a good signal to have. :)

------
Produce
A marketing university student told me this a few years ago. Post something
interesting or stop posting. If you're running a business, educate yourself on
all the aspects of how they work. If you're already running a business and
this is news to you, find a day job.

------
eragnew
Nice article. It's just what I needed to read today :)

