A reproducible testing process is more valuable than any one idea. Innovate here first. All things equal, a team with more shots at bat will win against a team with an audacious vision.
Building the capabilities to test ideas frequently is a huge competitive advantage and a cornerstone of success.
A few weeks back, Monzo bank in the UK showed one way of how they do this themselves. They shipped a small feature to gather some customer feedback on "paying someone" (notice they don’t say “payment feature” or some other business-perspective rubbish) and asked for permission to contact me in the future.
A few things I really liked:
- Reasonably unobtrusive. It didn't rudely block me from getting on with my business. The Call to Action (CTA) just sat patiently but noticeably at the top of my transactions list. And I could easily dismiss it if I wanted.
- They were super focused. One question, plus a free-text-field follow-up. Not a million questions. This shows respect for customers’ time and their ability to prioritise. That’s of course not to say all users were asked the same question with the same focus of course.
- Their 3rd question was a request to contact me for follow-up research. They can follow up on comments and they’re building a database of customers for future research.
If finding users to ask questions about existing habits or future solutions is easy, you'll do it more often.
If I were you, I’d look at ways to get focussed feedback and build a database of willing customers like Monzo does here too.