When coming up with a new product or business idea, you can:
1. Solve a problem: “I hate getting into my car during winter because it's too cold” – Remote start
2. Improve upon existing products: – Our phone is now 20% faster
3. Trends and market analysis: “Renewables are getting a lot of investment and attention” – Green energy focused product.
4. Customer feedback: “I wish the band on my watch wasn't so itchy” – New watch band material
The list goes on.
What about when you can't rely on customers input because they can't envision what it is you want to do? Sometimes, the customer does not know if they even want it. So when doing user interviews you'll get the yes man answer, based on irrelevant data. For example, adding touch-id to iPhones, if you go around asking people do you want a fingerprint scanner on your phone, they would have looked at you funny at the time.
Often times you'll hear don't create a solution, then look for the target audience. But to what extent?
What are your thoughts?
