Hey folks,
Long time no see! As you should have guessed if you read my last post, I have been away writing pages after pages trying to get my thesis done.Unfortunately, I have not finished yet… Recently, I took some time off and went back to work.And I liked it! I mean, damn I love my job, I love the people I work with, I love the product we are putting together, and I love…you. Question: Who are you? In a perfect world, you will be a regular reader of this blog dreaming about being the first to try our application. Sweet. But it does not quite yet answer my question…At least it is not enough to get a good idea of the future users of PocketSmith. And we need this information. Not because my marketing teacher told me so, but because we want to build the application around the user experience. For example, decisions about the user interface have to be made regarding on potential users. Moreover, our marketing effort will be directed toward these people.
Problem: as the Internet is a global market, it could be a tricky exercise to identify our target. Consequently,I have decided to share some tips with you to deal with this issue:
- Get knowledge about your market. Don’t limit yourself to Internet. On the contrary, read a lot about what is happening outside (In the real world ;p ).
- Discuss with your business partners about potential targets. Ask yourself: Why would they use PocketSmith? Remember that motivation is the key. The last thing you want is having to educate the people your are targeting cause it will cost you double time and energy to sell them what you have to offer.
- Talk with people about your application and what it does. Ask them if they will use it. If not, ask them if they know people who will use it.
- Release of an alpha and a beta versions. Make people test your application. Make sure you pick your testers from a wide range of people. Get their feedback and identify who are the most reactive
- Keep discussing with your business partners as the product changes. It is crazy how fast we have to rethink everything as the application is growing so quickly!
If you follow these steps, you should come out with a good idea about the potential users of your application. But remember that it is likely to change as you confront your product to the market so keep your mind open!
Right, I have dealt with Marketing and user experience. It is now time to speak about intensive testing! So why is it related? Simply because I have been in charge to test the application by simulating I am a user. You think it is fun? Wrong! Cause Jas and James hate me for that 
In fact, my job is to hammer the application to make sure there are no errors or bugs left. Moreover, I report some tweaks that have to be done to get a perfect product. I have to think about different case scenarios to make sure I cover everything. I pretend to use a computer for the first time or try to do random actions to see if I can break something.That is the problem. My job is to point out the annoying little details so you can understand why Jas or James want to kick my French butt sometimes!
Actually, the three of us understand that these details are important as we dont have to much chance to make a good first impression. Sign up for the beta and get a chance to see why we are confident this first impression will be the good one!
Tags: Marketing, User experience, user interface
[...] Marketing, user experience, and extensive testing… [...]