Product Critique

What is a product critique?

Why are product critiques important?

Product critiques are a vital element of product management because they help product managers:

Collect feedback

Running a product critique lets product managers and teams gather feedback from three core groups:

• Users

• Stakeholders

• Team members

Analyzing this feedback can give you invaluable insight into a product’s flaws and how to improve it, spanning multiple points of view. 

Understand user experiences

Your product is made for your users, and you need to know how they use it to assess its value. A product critique will reveal if the product meets users’ needs, and if not, why not. That can lead to invaluable improvements.

Boost customer satisfaction

Your product may not satisfy customers, and that’s a big problem. With a product critique, you can identify issues and opportunities to raise customer satisfaction. 

Types of product critiques

Companies can perform several different types of product critiques. These include:

Usability testing

Users are invited to interact with the product under observation (in person or remotely) as they normally would. You can collect real-time feedback on their experience, and understand which areas are more confusing or clunky than others.

Focus groups

Several users are invited to discuss the product, answer your questions, and share their ideas for improving it. 

Surveys

Distributing surveys among users is a cost-effective, straightforward way to gather feedback on a product. Ask open-ended questions to prompt thoughtful responses. 

Conducting a product critique session

Here’s a quick breakdown of how to run a product critique to help product managers get started.

Ask helpful questions

Here are a few questions to ask:

• What issues does the product solve?

• What is your product’s value proposition?

• Who are your end users?

• How often have people used the product?

• What features are most and least helpful to users?

Ask about anything that feels relevant to the user’s experience and satisfaction.

Assign the right people to the right parts

Critique the product based on expertise. Assign parts of your product critique to team members with the right skill sets and knowledge in relevant areas (e.g. design, development), including yourself.

Focus on your users

Make sure you keep your users in mind throughout the product critique. Your aim is to understand what works and what doesn’t to provide them with the best user experience. Consider the problems they want to solve with your product and how it may prevent them from doing that in its current form.

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