How often do you talk with your users/customers?
@psproductpersonSuch a good point, Paola. The emotional investment in building something you're passionate about is real, and it’s not easy to hear feedback that challenges your vision. Plus, with founders and product managers juggling so many roles, finding the time to engage deeply with users feels like a luxury.
I think what’s missing in those product guides is advice on how to balance both—like setting up systems to gather user insights passively (through analytics or surveys) while still carving out smaller, meaningful moments for direct conversations.
@itsonlylucia Absolutely! 100% this happens everywhere, but since most of my experience is from startups, I would say that this is almost the norm for them. The juggle struggle is real! Context switching is one of your worst enemies when it comes to actually finishing your deliverable, but it's absolutely necessary when it comes to running the startup.
Those are great ideas! An automated analytics set-up/dashboard based on the weekly check-in is a time saver. I was actually really proud to have that set up in a small startup because it saved me HOURS. I also found that to carve out those meaningful conversations.
You also have to go for the jugular in the messages, especially with the founders, when it comes to carving out meaningful conversations. It's almost like Twitter. Preferably, 1-2 sentences at a time and only 1 question. You can't ask them two questions at the same time since they often get confused and miss one.
Totally get what you're saying! It's like the classic case of "easier said than done." I mean, we all know in theory that talking and really listening to customers is super important. But when you're juggling a thousand things at once, it's hard to make that a priority. For me, the last real chat with a user was probably a couple of weeks ago through a feedback survey. And honestly, it was kinda enlightening — some of the stuff they mentioned I hadn't even thought about. Guess it really does prove that keeping that line open can give you insights you'd never expect!
Absolutely agree with this! Honestly, it's something we should all be doing more often but probably don't. For me, the last real conversation with a user was a few weeks back through a quick Zoom call. It was super informal - just chatting about what features they wished we'd add and some frustrations they've run into. What struck me was how valuable that short chat was, not just for getting feedback but also for building a connection. It's easy to forget that behind every user count or download stat is a real person with their own stories and needs. Definitely makes you want to reach out more often, right? 😊