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To come up with a product that sells itself and that customers recommend from one to another is every entrepreneur’s dream. And guess what? It’s possible. What you should do is focus on making the market your priority.
In the last couple of articles, I’ve covered workshop, PoC and MVP. Now it’s time for the next stage of product development, which is Product/Market Fit (PMF). What’s that exactly? Is there a strategy for it? And more importantly, how to achieve it? Let’s dive into the subject and find out.
PMF is when a product meets the high expectations of the market. It’s the situation in which users need a given solution, and it satisfies all their requirements – visually, usefully and financially. If these things are done simultaneously, then you have it – a perfect match.
The trick to make it work is to listen to users’ feedback. Thanks to this, you can find out if you have the product they want and need. In other words, you can determine the current market demand. It will help you build a product roadmap and refine a product.
How do you know that you achieved PMF? Is there a way to measure it? Though there’s no one answer to these questions, you can detect the signs that you’ve created something special. Want to know what are they? Let’s take a look.
You know you are on the right track, or you already achieved Product/Market Fit if:
Thanks to the launch of MVP you already have some user base. Moreover, later on, as the opinion spreads, people are probably ready to sign up for the restocking. They may even make a small payment to get the access earlier than others.
These are only the exemplary cases of signs that you achieved Product/Market Fit. But the truth is, if you address the market that really needs your solution, then that’s it. You probably hit the right spot. This leads to an increase in demand, growth in user base, and financial stability — namely, an overall success. But, again, it all depends. Thus, there’s this saying about PMF that „you know it when you see it”.
Every company on the market is pursuing PMF, whether it’s a startup or an established business. Why? Because Product/Market Fit has a good chance of guaranteeing long-term success. PMF isn’t a blind luck, but rather a product based on comprehensive research of market needs. It’s a moment when desirability, feasibility and viability come together.
The steps in looking for a product that fulfils the demands of the market are similar (if not the same) to final stages of developing the MVP. We should keep in mind, that in most cases, Minimum Viable Product is the first step to Product/Market Fit. Thanks to it, you can get the first-hand opinion of your product from the potential users and then refine it. In other words, it contributes to making PMF.
The point in PMF is not to get there, but rather to continually develop the product to fit the ever-evolving market. To stay successful, you should monitor your customers at all times and adapt your solutions to them. The more information you can absorb from the feedback, the closer you’ll get to refining your PMF.
Here, we’re going to elaborate on some errors on the way to Product/Market Fit. Some of them are an obvious one, while others are much more complex. All of them, however, can pose severe problems in the future.
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Depending on the product you’re developing, during tests you can record how customers are interacting with it. Besides, thanks to such testing, you can see what areas of the screen people are clicking on the most. Also, you’re able to get the first-hand opinion on the product, which would provide fair ideas for optimization.
Moreover, after launching the product, we should also keep track of the users’ behaviour. Because we already have an expanded database, we can perform general research on how customers use the product and interact with it.
Many indicators determine how much we fit the market. Most of all, if the product is successful. That includes factors such as:
In certain situations, it’s worth doing interviews with people that stopped buying a given product or service. It’ll provide you with data that can be used to improve the product.
The question is: How to do customer validation if physical contact is too expensive due to vast distances?
When we can’t reach the customer personally, our team prefers to spread questionnaires through the internet. These interviews with the potential users, you can also do via Skype or other alternative communication tools. Sometimes, this off-site method is even better for some people. You can do more interviews since you don’t spend time travelling. But, if you’re hesitating to Skype or Google Hangouts, a good alternative is getting on the phone. In the old fashioned way.
All of the above are a great way to test whether or not you’re building the right product.
The right mindset, while building a digital product is essential. Great company culture is about transparency, growing together and accepting, that sometimes our assumptions about the market may be wrong.
In the case of PMF, it’s no different. First of all, the team should be flexible. During the process of looking for Product/Market Fit, the team is continually refining the same product. They should keep an open mind for new ideas and changing their previous presumptions. In the end, we’re looking for something special, right?
This brings us to the second point, that’s a strong focus on market needs. The product that we’re looking for is solving the user’s problems. Let it be the number one priority.
Lastly, as I mentioned before, we should always keep in mind that no matter how reasonable our assumptions are, they might be incorrect. And that’s fine. We can’t know it all. Once again, the solution is to listen to the people and find out what they expect from the product and then, build it accordingly.
Now it’s time to test your product. MVP is going to help you with that. Build, test, learn and improve it. Even though MVP has only core functionalities, its potential customers can already tell you if they like it. Listen to their opinions and suggestions, but also filter their answers. You can’t satisfy them all, so focus on the majority.
Below you can find a list of questions that will help you in refining your idea:
At Gorrion, we’ve worked on many projects in different areas. It provides us with the necessary expertise. If you’re interested in testimonials from our clients, you can find them here. Moreover, our team of specialists will do everything in their power to get to know your idea and your business.
Thanks to our process, we can help you find solutions that your customers need. This, in turn, contributes to the success and growth of your business. By workshop and Product Map, we make sure that the cooperation goes as smooth as possible.
At the office or remotely, there’s always a way to meet and work on your project. Because of comprehensive research as well as developing PoC and MVP, you’re more likely to succeed on the market. All these actions help to ensure you get a solution that addresses the needs, wants, and desires of the market.
Have an idea? Contact us and meet our team. We’d be happy to talk to you. Let’s get from the concept to the product that your customers will love.
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