-- by Tina Miteko, founder, Marketing For Tech
In a previous article, I wrote about how companies can be better at learning from their failures so they can push their business forward.
When launching a new technology product there are three things that must be an integral part of the product development and product launch process.
When launching a new technology product there are three things that must be an integral part of the product development and product launch process.
1. User Testing / User Experience
When developing a new technology product, such as a SaaS software or a mobile app, companies should include the users in the process. Giving the opportunity to a select group of users to test and use the product before it officially enters the market through a beta testing period is a great way to fix critical bugs and collect valuable feedback.
When developing a new technology product, such as a SaaS software or a mobile app, companies should include the users in the process. Giving the opportunity to a select group of users to test and use the product before it officially enters the market through a beta testing period is a great way to fix critical bugs and collect valuable feedback.
Also, before making the product commercially available to an entire market, a company can implement a pilot program where its product is used by a number of users in real-world conditions. Cyclefi, for example, an online platform which rewards customers for using its products to promote recycling, ran pilot projects with various municipalities to assess the impact of its service.
By implementing beta testing and pilot programs, a company can collect valuable information from users, avoid costly mistakes and greatly improve its product before it becomes commercially available.
2. User Adoption
User adoption refers to the familiarization of a user with the way the new product works with the ultimate goal the frequent use of the product by the user. User adoption plays an important role in the success of a product launch. If you're launching, for example a freemium product, you want users to engage with your product as soon as they get their hands on it. If they don't understand how to use it, they are likely not going to see the value that your product brings. This is particularly critical for freemium products because it impacts your bottom line. Low user adoption means fewer conversions from freemium to paid customers and lower revenue for your company.
User adoption refers to the familiarization of a user with the way the new product works with the ultimate goal the frequent use of the product by the user. User adoption plays an important role in the success of a product launch. If you're launching, for example a freemium product, you want users to engage with your product as soon as they get their hands on it. If they don't understand how to use it, they are likely not going to see the value that your product brings. This is particularly critical for freemium products because it impacts your bottom line. Low user adoption means fewer conversions from freemium to paid customers and lower revenue for your company.
The more complex your product is, the more important is the role of the business in helping users learn how to use it by providing on-boarding materials and training tools that help users get up to speed.
3. Performance and testing of the sites and apps.
I was recently evaluating a chatbot service. I signed up for the trial version of the product and began building a chatbot. Occasionally, the service took a long time to load. Not only it negatively contributed to productivity but it also raised concerns about its availability to customers. If you are building SaaS applications, performance and availability should be on top of your mind.
How fast a site or an app loads should not be a concern only for developers. It impacts marketing, customer support and sales. Consider, for example, if the eBay site is slow or not loading? How many millions of dollars would the company lose? If you have a SaaS business and marketing runs an aggressive campaign to increase trial sign-ups but your app is slow, this will impact your bottom line. Your marketing budget would be wasted, potential customers would be dissatisfied, requests to customer support would increase and sales would be affected.
I was recently evaluating a chatbot service. I signed up for the trial version of the product and began building a chatbot. Occasionally, the service took a long time to load. Not only it negatively contributed to productivity but it also raised concerns about its availability to customers. If you are building SaaS applications, performance and availability should be on top of your mind.
How fast a site or an app loads should not be a concern only for developers. It impacts marketing, customer support and sales. Consider, for example, if the eBay site is slow or not loading? How many millions of dollars would the company lose? If you have a SaaS business and marketing runs an aggressive campaign to increase trial sign-ups but your app is slow, this will impact your bottom line. Your marketing budget would be wasted, potential customers would be dissatisfied, requests to customer support would increase and sales would be affected.
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