Question: When is it a BAD idea to act on user feedback about your product? Why?
When Feedback Isn't Aligned With Your Goals
"No one asked Apple to develop the iPod. Although consumer feedback can be very helpful at times, it can also be a distraction. Consumers usually don't have the benefit of knowing your company's goals or plans. Don't let seemingly helpful feedback distract you from the bigger picture if what consumers are asking for isn't in synch with your vision for your company."
@brittanyhodak
When It's About Pricing
"In general, feedback you get directly from customers on pricing will be wrong. If your customers say your pricing is fair, that means you should probably raise your prices. No one will tell you your prices are too low. The way you understand that is by A/B testing strategies with the market. Customers give real feedback with their wallets."
@johnrood
When It's Only a Single Opinion
"The first year we were in business, we got burned building custom features that ended up having no mass-market appeal. Our system now is to generally ignore feedback the first time we hear it. Once someone else says the same thing, we add it to a list. Every time we hear about it after that, we add a check mark next to it. The more check marks, the higher the importance in our development queue."
@HoeftAndrew
Feedback Based on Limited Experience
"A customer who has used your product once or in a limited capacity may not have enough of the big picture to provide truly useful input. Ideally, you would synthesize feedback from a core group of users who have an intimate knowledge of your product and are in an excellent position to assist with its ongoing development."
@alevit
When it Adds Bloat to Your Product
"Designing a simple and easy to use piece of software is an art, and like art, sometimes less is more! That's definitely the case when someone gives us feedback about our software and it adds more complexity for little return in terms of functionality. So we're big believers in sticking to our vision, and building in new features only if they don't make things harder."
@nathlussier
When It's From Non-Paying Users
"Developing a product roadmap based on feedback from people who are using your product for free almost never leads to a product people will be willing to pay for. Feedback from five paying users is a lot more valuable than feedback from 500 freemium users. It's a very common, and often fatal, mistake startups make."
@steli
