Crowdsourcing Product Development Priorities
As some of you know I recently left my position at The Well, and have been on the search for my next position. A couple of the prospective roles have me working once again with large brands that sell high quality, high value products. This is an area I especially enjoy, because it is at the intersection of branding and commerce, and is a challenging place to play.
In doing some research I keep thinking about the value of sites like GetSatisfaction and tools like IdeaExchange to help companies better connect with the customers by providing near immediate customer service(GetSatisfaction), and allowing your customers to help prioritize what you should be building or selling.
Salesforce’s IdeaExchange came out of the Dell IdeaStorm project, which from what I read has been a wild success for Dell. I just came across another IdeaExchange customer, who at first glance seemed like an odd company to be using IdeaExchange.
The I thought through it and realized that any company having a consumer facing presence is going to have/need their own ideaexchange. Starbucks is just trying to get closer to their customers and this allows them to gather valuable customer interest data cheaply and without the need for extensive research studies.
It also gives the customers a voice in your development process. Until recently that voice was only heard in focus groups, user interviews and other traditional research methods.
Post a Comment