Purpose
Check your intuition and validate early
Being too close to the product can sometimes take you in the wrong direction. Even numerous reviews with a variety of internal perspectives won't always solve the problem for the intended user.
Being too close to the product can sometimes take you in the wrong direction. Even numerous reviews with a variety of internal perspectives won't always solve the problem for the intended user.
It doesn't have to be a large-scale test in order to be effective. Utilizing tools like usertesting.com, Nate Bolts (remote research), Ethnio, 5secondtest.com can provide a great reality check before moving the project forward. Collaboration with Avvo's lead user researcher on new services/techniques also allows us to conduct our own user research.
Early validation is one of the best ways reduce unnecessary cycles/waste. It also provides revitalization if the project is feeling stale. Being too close to the project is natural, but recognizing the bias and putting something up on usertesting.com, for example, proactively adds valuable perspective outside of the building.