feedback isn't about abdication
you don’t gather feedback (beta reading, customer development, etc.) to abdicate creative decisions. you do it because a useful product is for someone, and you need to know whether the thing you’ve built is working.
product feedback isn’t supposed to tell you what to do next. (although it sometimes can.) it’s supposed to help you see the truth of what you’ve already done.
even earlier than that, pre-product feedback isn’t supposed to tell what you to do either. it’s supposed to help you better understand the people you’re trying to build something for.
feedback isn’t about abdicating your creative decisions. it’s about grounding yourself in reality such that you are able to start making better ones.
you’ll still be making your creative leaps of faith. you’ll just be doing so from solid ground.
Comments (1)
This is good. I see people abdicate in the other direction: they sometimes want prospects to prove to them there is a business opportunity instead of forming a hypothesis / pursuing a vision and seeking evidence on both sides.
I think you to have a strong belief—subject to revision in the face of new evidence—that you have something of value to offer, to justify asking people to take the time to provide feedback.
I agree that feedback and new evidence point out new possibilities and often add new constraints. Both enable more informed creative decisions.