Why collect customer feedback?

This article is about how to collect user feedback from customers. It also discusses why collecting customer feedback is helpful to an organization.

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Why collect customer feedback?

  • User Experience (UX) research involves collecting feedback from users of a product, service, or brand. It's learning about what users want firsthand and then applying that knowledge to improve the product or service to better meet customers' needs.
  • Example: A shower handle is too far from the entrance, causing you to get sprayed with cold water every time you turn it on. This prompts ideas for a redesign (e.g., moving the handle or changing the entry).
  • The main questions of UX research are:
    • How do you use it?
    • How does it make you feel when you use it?
    • How would you make it different to better suit your needs?

 

 

The product development lifecycle

Collecting feedback on a product can be done at every stage of a product’s development lifecycle, and there are three distinct phases:

product_development_lifecycle.JPG

Let's apply the product development lifecycle to the shower example from the previous section.

  • Stage 1: Learn and Empathize – Interview neighborhood residents to understand their shower preferences and needs.
  • Stage 2: Ideate and Explore – Present design ideas and gather feedback to see which concepts resonate with customers and meet their needs.
  • Stage 3: Execute and Improve – Install the chosen design, gather user feedback on its performance, and use this input to refine and improve future versions.

 

 

How to start collecting feedback

customer_testing.JPGHere are just a few categories of questions you may wish to ask customers about your product:

  • Customer Needs and Frustrations – Understand what customers want from a product, what frustrates them, and what the marketplace is missing to identify gaps for new products or services.
  • Customer Environment and Context—Observe customers in their natural environment to see how they interact with a product or space. This can help inform better design and usability.
  • Usability – Identify challenges customers face when using a product and gather feedback on how to make it easier for them to use.
  • Validation – Test ideas (products, services, or content) with customers to ensure they resonate and confirm you're on the right track.

 

 

Templates

We offer editable templates for various tests if you're unsure how to create a test plan. Each template includes pre-written questions and tasks to help gather insights for better business decisions, and you can customize them to fit your needs. Examples include:

 

 

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