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In-Depth Information
Focus groups are slow and expensive. Benchmarking competitors might
work, but it's still uncertain. For complex products that offer lots of options and
compete in constantly shifting markets, traditional modes of market research
are outdated by the time the analysis is inished.
Startup companies, in particular, can't afford traditional market research
tools. In his topic
The Lean Startup
, Eric Ries suggests that companies should
explore and experiment with multiple new ideas at the same time and adjust
their strategies on the ly.
3
Ries argues that startups should conduct a continu-
ous steady stream of small, lean experiments.
3D printing will help companies quickly market test new products and
adapt to market feedback. By 3D printing customized versions of a product,
a business can circulate several options amongst its customers. Traditional
factory produced product variation is expensive. Even what would be consid-
ered small batches in a factory would be too large for this sort of iterative and
continuous market testing.
Imagine that you just founded a new startup. You're selling a software
product and you're not sure how much customers are willing to pay for your
product or what features they want. Ries suggests that a startup offer its product
in different lavors at different price points to different customers. Then the
startup should gather data, shift variables, and try again. Patterns in collected
data should reveal a product's best features and prices.
As always seems to be the case, with digital products, this sort of dynamic
experimentation is easier and cheaper. Data on user preferences and pur-
chases is more readily available. For physical products, an iterative, real-time
approach to testing product variables is harder to implement and user data
more dificult to gather.
How could Lean Startup principles be applied to a physical product? Imagine
your startup sold cell phone covers. You wanted to compare one cell phone
cover that had a star shaped pattern embossed into the back, and another,
plainer version that didn't. You could display both for sale and see which one
was purchased more but you'd actually have to manufacture both and pay for
the cost of producing two different injection molds.
