But I’ve heard “target market” thrown around far too often around as an excuse for why other people didn’t understand your idea.  (“Well, of course he didn’t understand my online raccoon manicure product – he’s not a raccoon groomer!”)

But in general, ANYBODY SHOULD BE ABLE TO ‘GET’ YOUR IDEA.   If they don’t, it’s either a bad idea or you’re expressing it badly, and the sooner you realize that, the better.

Don’t ask “would you use it?”, ask “do you get it?”

As SOON as you have an idea or a very early mockup, show it to people.  Doesn’t matter who.  If they ‘get it’, THEN invest the time in building out more of an MVP, and at that point, definitely call in your target market.

Recently I was talking with some other entrepreneurs about a company that prints out physical wall calendars already-marked with all the birthdays from your Facebook account.  We all said, “I probably wouldn’t buy it” but we all UNDERSTOOD WHAT IT WAS, and that there was an audience (my teenage niece) who would probably find it a lot cooler than we did.

Start Fast and Cheap, then Target

Finding target market people takes time.  I can find a fellow product manager/startup person to give me feedback within hours.

It might take a day to find a targeted person – for a new entrepreneur who doesn’t have a big network yet, it might take a week.  That’s too long to wait for this very early feedback.

Asking target market people for their feedback burns some social capital.   I can easily ask a favor from a fellow product manager/startup person because I know they could probably use my help at some point in the near future.  I also know they’ll be both patient and merciless if I do a bad job explaining my idea.

If I have a target market person who is NOT my friend, and ask them for feedback, it’s a lot harder to ask again later.  If I do a bad job explaining my idea, they may incorrectly conclude that it doesn’t meet their needs.  Or it may just not trigger the feedback you need — most people are not able to articulate their needs straight-out.  It’s only when they hear an idea or see a sketch that they get in the right mindset to talk about their problems (you know, those things that you are trying to solve.)

So once your idea has gotten some rudimentary validation, target away!   Just don’t let targeting stand in the way of getting feedback EARLY EARLY EARLY.  Let dumb/impractical/incomprehensible/poorly articulated product ideas die a quick and painless death!

a) Your investors

b) Your most loyal, early-adopter existing customers

c) A demographically-balanced segment of people who have no familiarity with your product

d) Anybody, as long as it’s not you

OK, sure, there’s probably an “ideal” audience to show your product to.  But it probably doesn’t matter.

Earlier this week, I emailed a friend with a URL to ask for his feedback.   To be honest, he was far from my “ideal” user testing subject: an expert user, tech- and product-management-savvy, an existing user of previous versions of the product, super-familiar with our company and what we’re trying to do.  The kind of person who’d probably agree with me on what websites rock and what apps are lousy.

How useful could his feedback possibly be?

(I think you know where this is going.)

He was kind enough to send me a Screentoaster video of him navigating through the flows and “thinking out loud” — and from the first glance he started pointing out problems we hadn’t noticed.  Wording that was confusing.  A call-to-action button below the fold.  An interactive panel that we’d thought was awesome – that wasn’t nearly clear enough.  And on and on and on…

Even an “expert” noticed these problems – because he wasn’t me.

Even as someone who’s done tons of critiqueing UIs and workflows, I just hadn’t succeeding in stepping back and seeing our product concept through the eyes of a customer.

So — don’t wait until you have a full product, don’t wait until you’ve done another round of design, don’t wait until you’ve revised your copy.  Get someone to take a look at whatever you have NOW.  Doesn’t matter who – as long as it’s not you.

PS – hey readers, if you’ve got a few moments and can record a Screentoaster video of yourself walking through these flows, email me.  I’ll be happy to return the favor for you and your product!