The first test

This week was a very exciting one. We just had the first group of users test our product (a small working model of our product actually) and it was a huge rush. I think it is the sweetest thrill for an entrepreneur, even more so than getting funding, because the raison d'etre for your startup is building something that your customers will want and use.

There's a world of difference between theorizing about how the customer will use the product and actually watching someone use it. We did the usual, starting with initial observations, known best practices (aka what others have done), some leaps of imagination and plain old common sense and built a prototype/model/demo (not quite ready to be the alpha version). We had lined up a bunch of users to give it a go and give us feedback, and we thought the date was far enough out to make sure everything was the way it should be.

But there we were, three days before the test, and our small team didn't feel confident that we should put the demo in front of users. It was functional, but it didn't have the look and feel of our product vision, and there was concern that it would turn off the users. But I didn't want to postpone, not only because of logistical issues, but because I knew that if we wait until our demo is 100% ready we've waited too long. And I had faith that the users will view it with goodwill and be able to differentiate problems from potential.

So, we got everything lined up as well as we could and charged ahead - and turned out to be a most satisfying experience. There were no disasters, and the expected problems were only viewed as features they'd suggested we improve. It was gratifying to see the proto being used the way we intended - and in ways we could have never imagined. And the many new ideas they generated are invaluable, the stuff that will make the product truly fit their needs. And best of all, at the end of it, we'd got rock solid validation that we're on the right track with the product. No surprise, I'm pumped!