listening to consumers

I know this is a cheap shot in a way but this post at 37 signals / signal to noise demonstrates really well how useful consumer feedback can sometimes be.

These are all consumer comments on the MacRumours forum following the original announcement of the ipod - so these are from hardcore fans, exactly the people we're always told to pay close attention to.

"I still can’t believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently! Why oh why would they do this?! It’s so wrong! It’s so stupid!"

"gee! an mp3 player with a HD! how original! kinda reminds me of a JUKEBOX i once knew.
I’d call it the Cube 2.0 as it wont sell, and be killed off in a short time…and it’s not really functional."

"All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field is starting to warp Steve’s mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off."

"There are already two products similar to this on the market. The Nomad Jukebox and the Archos Jukebox which can come with a 20 gig HD. The iPod is obviously a lot cooler and has firewire, but it is far from revolutionary. I for one am disappointed and think that apple is making a mistake by trying to get into this market."

Good job Apple paid attention and abandoned that whole ipod thing.

Comments

[Servant of Chaos]

You can't innovate by listening to customers. They frame their feedback based on the way that they currently engage with your brand ... so a focus group will only provide a snapshot at that point in time. Don't expect customers to do the hard work of innovating for you -- that is your job alone.

[Tim]

It´s always a good thing to listen what other people think. The hard thing is to make draw the right conclusion and even harder to decide against what you heard but you just feel is the right thing to do.

As Henry Ford said a long time ago: "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

[brianaustin]

Tim is correct, listening is always a good idea. But - listening about 25% of the work; interpreting that listening is the genius in learning to listen well. Perhaps we should strive to listen in a lateral or horizontal fashion; rather than laddering up or down vertically (which serves to order perception within the same mindset). Anyone for a qual version of factor analysis?

[Rob Mortimer]

But you see it is entirely relevant. And by looking closely what you need to know as a company is right there.

""There are already two products similar to this on the market. The Nomad Jukebox and the Archos Jukebox which can come with a 20 gig HD. The iPod is obviously a lot cooler""

1. Its telling you that the only real and current competition is from two relatively small manufacturers.

2. Its telling you directly that the ipod is 'cooler'. Now think just how much that is important in electronics.

""it wont sell, and be killed off in a short time…and it’s not really functional.""

3. You now know the potential perception, and what you need to tell people in order for them to consider it a viable choice.

Consumer feedback is rarely right, but the real answers lie beyond the obvious.