Another thing I think about on a regular basis is product-market fit. I’ve worked on products that have been successful and tried to keep a record of what may have gone right.
I’ve also worked on products that haven’t been as successful. I’ve become accustomed to that feeling that comes with failure (it’s crazy that no matter how many times you fail, there’s still that sting).
I enjoy the experimentation and am always on the lookout for frameworks for measuring product-market fit.
There’s a Product/Market Fit Survey that was developed by Sean Ellis in 2009, which asks users the question “how would you feel if you could no longer use the product”.
Justin Jackson says there are better questions to ask.
Rather than gauge how disappointed users would be if they couldn’t use the product anymore, Jackson cites The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick, which suggests asking users about a time when the product was unavailable and how they felt during that time, whether they looked for and used alternatives.
The former questions “future feelings” which results in answers that aren’t always super accurate. The latter doesn’t require any guessing about feelings. Users know how they felt when the product was down. They don’t have to guess.
Jackson also cites Brian Balfour, who suggested three metrics for measuring product/market fit: (1)Top-line growth, (2) Retention and (3) Meaningful usage.
“Top-line growth comes from a market that’s hungry for a solution”, writes Jackson, while “retention and usage are both signs that you’ve built a good product for that market.”
