by Saeed Khan
Most often, a customer visit means having a discussion in a meeting room at your customer’s site, with a small group of users or interested parties.
They usually expect you to present something and get their feedback. e.g. a new or upcoming product release, or product roadmap or whatever.
Once the meeting is over, a lot of good intentions are shared for future such meetings and you leave the premises.
While those meetings have definite value, you should really try to spend some time with one or more users in THEIR environment — i.e. not in a meeting room, but at their desk or in their work areas to see what they do in their jobs, and how they ACTUALLY use your product.
You’ll be surprised how much you will learn.
How much time do you spend actually observing your users?
Tweet this: Rules for customer visits #3 – Observation is critical http://wp.me/pXBON-4d6 #prodmgmt #ux
Also see: Rule #2 – Moderation is key
Image source: Kylephoto.com