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Business

Aleksandr Vinogradov
Aleksandr Vinogradov
12,113 Points
Posted by Aleksandr Vinogradov
Aleksandr Vinogradov
12,113 Points

Idea Validation

Dear Treehouse members, I got very confused!

At the moment I am trying to validate an idea that i have for an niche application to be exact. An application for models to help improve career and financial management.

I am learning the topics that interest me and don't go further then my actual execution state. As i didn't get enough information from the "How to start a business " course on idea validation i took a course called "Research user needs."

I GOT SUPER CONFUSED.

Here: http://teamtreehouse.com/library/how-to-start-a-business-revamp/product-market-fit/testing-our-assumptions

Pesan tells us to make quick pass or fails test. Asking Yes - No questions.

Here: http://teamtreehouse.com/library/researching-user-needs/learning-activity-experience-sampling/interacting-with-participants

Tomer tells us not to ask YES - NO questions.

As i made to Tomers course today and i already did research by making a survey i am not sure anymore if i did a right thing. Most of my questions were yes - no questions.... And the way that i made the survey was very different then Tomer teaches. It was a one time questioner.

Please help clear out my confusion.

1 Answer

Erik Sayce
Erik Sayce
4,704 Points
Erik Sayce
Erik Sayce
4,704 Points

Don't be afraid to use your best judgment here.

Yes/No questions are great for measuring results in a clear way. In other words, by not asking open ended questions you're going to get hard data that is very measurable. This is key in a validation stage as you don't want to leave room for interpreting your data wrong, or allowing personal bias' to enter the equation.

The validation stage is really to make sure your idea is even worth pursuing at all.

Research Methods is a social science, so there is room for debate of best practices and at the end of the day it's important to remember that this study is about mitigating risk and getting your answers to as close to true as possible.

The real question is whether the data that is return from your survey contains answers that you need, and that will help you obtain your goal.

You can include both yes/no and other types of questions, but in your measuring you should factor these differently. Keep your survey short and to the point. If you're gifted with a niche market, you should be tailoring your question to fit that specific niche, keeping the survey interesting and on point for your audience.

Good luck, and I hope this makes you more confident rather than more confused. The fact that your even doing testing is great, and remember if you don't get something right the first time you can always try again. Start with a small sample size and work your way up. If you have a set group you are testing with, don't send you initial survey to all of them until you know your feedback and test results are working the way you want them to. Then roll your refined test out to the entire sample.