When To Ignore User Feedback

When I was in high school in the 90s, Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani were my fashion icons.

I remember coming out of my bedroom in my bright, mismatched outfits feeling pretty proud of myself, only to encounter my archenemy of that era: my mother.

At best, she would look at me and shake her head. At worst, she would send me back in my room to change.

But her feedback did not deter me from my style quest. I knew without a doubt that my mom was not in the target market for my punk pop princess vibe.

What does this have to do with user experience?

Users can deal the same sorts of blows my mother did. Maybe a user is ambivalent about the product’s value. Maybe someone thinks you should throw it out and start over.

You can’t just roll your eyes and say, “you just don’t get it, Mom!”

What if they’re right? It’s a good question.

They might BE right, but on the flip side... what if they’re just not the target?

Don’t act immediately on one naysayer’s feedback. Instead, vet their sentiment. It doesn’t take much to confirm a trend.

At Slide UX, we’ll often speak with 6-8 different users, both before and after designs, to ensure that we’re acting based on trends rather than one-off opinions.

A few conversations with well-screened users can quickly tell you whether you’ve got reason to act. Or whether they just don’t understand your punk pop princess vibe.