Spoke to 30+ Facilitators

Speaking to users is the best way to get value

I started reaching out to many people who signed up in the initial week after BrickThink was released, and the feedback I got ranged from a clear understanding of the product to complex features I hadn't considered. I think when you are deep in the weeds of everything, it's hard to see things from all the different angles which your users see things from, and this was the best feedback and advice I got since I put it together.

It is how everyone says it is when building products nowadays. Get it out quick and gather as much feedback and momentum as possible. The market is so crazy at the moment, with the ability and ease of creating products, but actually making products that resonate with people is where the challenge lies. I was lucky. So many people must have had the same problem I was facing, and that is where it resonated with many users. As many people are now working remotely, it will be impossible to hold these types of workshops, and this is where the product's core is focused.

Now that I am starting to get feedback, it is important that I don't just throw features on a whim and really assess if these ideas will make a difference to the product. I think I will continue to conduct as much discovery as possible and even bring in a team of researchers to identify the key information needed. I believe that UX Research is a distinct skill in itself, and that gaining insights without leading the user is important. I would like to do it myself, but I won't get the real insights I am looking for unless I bring someone in. It's like asking an Indian person to make Chinese food. It might look the same on the outside, but it won't taste the same on the inside.

From the 30 people I spoke to, as mentioned before, they came up with so many ideas that they flooded my notes on what I should focus on. I have a few more demos booked in where I can present this to the masses and see how I can even refine some of the key information for the personas I am focusing on. I haven't even done that, to be honest. I don't even have a BrickThink email. That's how fast it's been moving on this project.