Businesses should never develop a product without first consulting with their customers. That’s because behind every successful product is a critical mass of satisfied customers. A 1 percent improvement in customer satisfaction among Fortune 500 companies, for example, has been shown to increase a firm’s value by $275 million on average, according to a seminal business study conducted by the University of Michigan.
The importance of customer satisfaction in the world of software development cannot be overstated. And businesses cannot achieve high customer satisfaction levels without proactively and continuously soliciting feedback and ideas from customers. It is through customer feedback that businesses understand how end users are (or are not) engaging with the products that were designed for them. And it is through customer feedback that businesses can effectively modify and expand their product lineup to better meet customers’ needs and priorities.
Outcode’s software development processes put customer feedback front and center throughout the product development lifecycle. We rely on a range of methods, approaches, and forums to solicit specific types of actionable feedback and ideas from customers. And we solicit this feedback from more than just the paying consumers of the products; we also do outreach to a wide range of internal teams and external stakeholders who help conceptualize, vet, and review software development plans and, later, provide feedback on prototypes and early versions. Each of these players is essentially a “customer” with a vested interest in seeing the product succeed. Let’s explore the specific ways that Outcode uses customer feedback to drive product development:
Software developers commonly use agile methodologies when developing products, enabling them to work in short sprints to prototype and iterate. The client then typically provides feedback on these iterations and prototypes. But often, this feedback is based on the client’s own preferences and priorities and is not necessarily reflective of the preferences and priorities of the product’s intended customer base.
Outcode understands that the most effective way to prototype software products is to solicit customer feedback early and often. Even before we start development, we will often work with our client to get feedback from their customers on UI/UX prototypes. Then, once we’ve started technical prototyping, we will ensure that our clients’ customers help us do user validation for prototype products. At every stage, we immediately convert what we learn into tangible improvements and enhancements for the next iteration of the prototype.
Once a software product is in customers’ hands, the development team typically experiences intense pressure to fix problems as soon as they are discovered and to keep the product up to date at all times. Customer feedback again provides the most direct, effective way to accomplish this goal.
Once customers identify a problem or shortcoming associated with the product, there’s no question for anyone that it needs to be prioritized and remedied. Outcode relies on this approach to identify and prioritize such updates and fixes.
Moreover, Outcode is not just dependent on soliciting feedback directly from individual customers. We also take advantage of data analytics tools to monitor customers’ behaviors and habits while using the product. Then, we utilize these data-driven insights to prioritize how we continue to enhance the product.
When developing software products, businesses invariably want to make more changes and add more features and capabilities than are feasible to implement at any given time. As a result, software products tend to amass sizable product backlogs over time. Then, as resources gradually become available to help clear the product backlog, the development team is left unsure of what to prioritize first.
Outcode recognizes the importance of using customer feedback to decide how to clear product backlogs. Because changes and expansions to software products are only worthwhile if customers see value, we view customer feedback as the most valuable, relevant lens through which we make decisions about how to clear product backlogs.
Problems with software products often catch businesses off-guard. But many of these problems are foreseeable—as long as the business is proactively looking out for them. Customer feedback plays a key role in helping businesses stay proactive about identifying problems. In fact, if the business is listening, customers will invariably point out small issues and early warning signs that have not yet become full-blown problems.
Outcode uses this proactive customer feedback approach to help us identify problems before they even arise.
Customer feedback is a powerful tool that every business should be deploying to optimize the relevance and appeal of every software product. When businesses utilize customer feedback effectively, they can do prototyping smarter and faster, make updates and fixes in real time, decide how to prioritize the product backlog, and enhance their ability to identify problems before they arise.
Outcode is proud of the articulated approaches and diverse pathways that we use to solicit and make optimal use of customer feedback and ideas. To learn more about how we incorporate customer feedback into our core software development processes, please reach out to us today.
