Integrating User Feedback in Pathway Design

Building a product isn’t just about solving a problem - it’s about ensuring you solve the right problem, in a way that resonates with your users. Yet, so many products miss the mark, often because the feedback from the people who matter most - users - isn’t prioritized. The key to a great product lies in its alignment with real user needs. Ignoring feedback can lead to building features that no one uses or overlooking pain points that drive users away. In fact, 42% of startups fail because their products don’t address a genuine market need ( source: CB Insights). Starting with a Minimal Desirable Product (MDP) can help. This isn’t about launching the simplest version of your idea, but about delivering something functional that still brings delight - encouraging users to engage and share their insights. How to Integrate Feedback Effectively - Observe User Behavior: Watch how users interact with your product. Are there steps where they hesitate or struggle? Their actions often tell you more than their words. - Ask the Right Questions: Use surveys and interviews to go beyond surface-level feedback. Open-ended questions can reveal frustrations or desires you hadn’t anticipated. - Iterate, Don’t Hesitate: Apply feedback to refine your product. Prioritize changes that align with user needs and eliminate features that don’t serve a purpose. - Keep Listening: The market evolves, and so do user preferences. Regularly revisiting feedback ensures your product stays relevant. The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Feedback A study from Harvard Business Review shows that 35% of product features are never used, and 19% are rarely used. That’s not just a waste of resources - it’s a missed opportunity to deliver real value. Let’s be honest: integrating feedback is hard work. It’s not a one-time task but an ongoing commitment. Negative feedback can be tough to hear, but it’s often where the biggest opportunities for improvement lie. Great products are never built in isolation. How do you incorporate user feedback into your product journey? #innovation #technology #future #management #startups

Great journey maps start from the intersection of user touchpoints. A customer journey map shows a customer's experiences with your organization, from when they identify a need to whether that need is met. Journey maps are often shown as straight lines with touchpoints explaining a user's challenges. start •—------------>• finish At the heart of this approach is the user, assuming that your product or service is the one they choose to use in their journey. While journey maps help explain the conceptual journey, they often give the wrong impression of how users are trying to solve their problems. In reality, users start from different places, have unique ways of understanding their problems, and often have expectations that your service can't fully meet. Our testing and user research over the years has shown how varied these problem-solving approaches can be. Building a great journey map involves identifying a constellation of touchpoints rather than a single, linear path. Users start from different points and follow various paths, making their journeys complex and varied. These paths intersect to form signals, indicating valuable touchpoints. Users interact with your product or service in many different ways. User journeys are not straightforward and involve multiple touchpoints and interactions…many of which have nothing to do with your company. Here’s how you can create valuable journeys: → Using open-ended questions and a product like Helio, identify key touchpoints, pain points, and decision-making moments within each journey. → Determine the most valuable touchpoints based on the intersection frequency and user feedback. → Create structured lists with closed answer sets and retest with multiple-choice questions to get stronger signals. → Represent these intersections as key touchpoints that indicate where users commonly interact with your product or service. → Focus on these touchpoints for further testing and optimization. Generalizing the linear flow can be practical once you have gone through this process. It helps tell the story of where users need the most support or attention, making it a helpful tool for stakeholders. Using these techniques, we’ve seen engagement nearly double on websites we support. #productdesign #productdiscovery #userresearch #uxresearch

User research is great, but what if you do not have the time or budget for it........ In an ideal world, you would test and validate every design decision. But, that is not always the reality. Sometimes you do not have the time, access, or budget to run full research studies. So how do you bridge the gap between guessing and making informed decisions? These are some of my favorites: 1️⃣ Analyze drop-off points: Where users abandon a flow tells you a lot. Are they getting stuck on an input field? Hesitating at the payment step? Running into bugs? These patterns reveal key problem areas. 2️⃣ Identify high-friction areas: Where users spend the most time can be good or bad. If a simple action is taking too long, that might signal confusion or inefficiency in the flow. 3️⃣ Watch real user behavior: Tools like Hotjar | by Contentsquare or PostHog let you record user sessions and see how people actually interact with your product. This exposes where users struggle in real time. 4️⃣ Talk to customer support: They hear customer frustrations daily. What are the most common complaints? What issues keep coming up? This feedback is gold for improving UX. 5️⃣ Leverage account managers: They are constantly talking to customers and solving their pain points, often without looping in the product team. Ask them what they are hearing. They will gladly share everything. 6️⃣ Use survey data: A simple Google Forms, Typeform, or Tally survey can collect direct feedback on user experience and pain points. 6️⃣ Reference industry leaders: Look at existing apps or products with similar features to what you are designing. Use them as inspiration to simplify your design decisions. Many foundational patterns have already been solved, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. I have used all of these methods throughout my career, but the trick is knowing when to use each one and when to push for proper user research. This comes with time. That said, not every feature or flow needs research. Some areas of a product are so well understood that testing does not add much value. What unconventional methods have you used to gather user feedback outside of traditional testing? _______ 👋🏻 I’m Wyatt—designer turned founder, building in public & sharing what I learn. Follow for more content like this!

💬 Last November I had a call with the CEO of an emerging health platform. She sounded very concerned -- "Our growth's hit a wall. We've put so much into this site, but we're running out of money and time. A big makeover isn’t an option, we need smart, quick fixes." Looking at the numbers, I noticed: ✅ Strong interest during initial signups. ❌ Many users gave up after trying it just a few times. ❌ Users reported that the site was too complicated. ❌ Some of the key features weren’t getting used at all. Operating within the startup’s tight constraints of time and budget, we decided on the immediate plan of actions-- 👉 Prioritized impactful features: We spotlighted "the best parts". Pushed secondary features to the backdrop. 👉  Rethought onboarding: Incorporated principles from Fogg's behavioral model: • Highlighted immediate benefits and rewards of using the platform (motivation) • Simplified tasks, breaking down the onboarding into easy steps (ability) • Nudged users with timely prompts to explore key features right off the bat (triggers)    👉 Pushed for community-driven growth: With budget constraints in mind, we prioritized building an organic community hub. Real stories, shared challenges, and peer-to-peer support turned users into brand evangelists, driving word-of-mouth growth. 👉  Started treating feedback as "currency": In a tight budget scenario, user feedback was gold. An iterative approach was adopted where user suggestions were rapidly integrated, amplifying trust and making users feel an important part of the platform's journey. In a few months time, the transformation was evident. The startup, once fighting for user retention, now had a dedicated user base, championing its vision and propelling its growth! 🛠  In the startup world, it's not just about quick fixes, but finding the right ones. ↳ A good UXer can show where to look. #ux #startupux #designforbehaviorchange   

Your early users aren't just test subjects—they're co-creators of your product's future. 🌱 This lesson has been top of mind as we navigate PMF, especially now that we’ve hit the three-month mark for our Clarify‎ pilot program. Austin Hay‎ and I spent some time writing up the main lessons learned—both in running pilot programs and for our product space specifically—in our latest blog post. Below is a TL;DR version 👇 First things first: words matter. We chose "pilot program" over "design partner program" for a reason. It reflects to our community, investors, and customers we've built something tangible and ready for real-world testing. 🎯 Secondly: The structure of the program also has to be intentional to ensure you get the most out of it. We broke ours down into four phases: 🧠 Learning: Cast a wide net, talk to everyone. ✅ Validation: Focus on solving real problems. 🚀 Onboarding: Qualify leads, start your sales motion. 💰 Sales-ready: Integrate monetization, prepare to scale. Each phase helped us refine our product and our processes to build a better product for our users. By the end of the program, we were given five core lessons from the experience and all the amazing user feedback. Serious shoutout to everyone who went through the pilot process with us, you’re the best. 🏆 Here are five key takeaways from our pilot program: 🔮 Embrace feedback: Early adopters are visionaries. They don't just tell you how they work now; they imagine how they could work in the future. This input is gold for shaping your product. 🧪 Validate your RATs (Risky Assumption Tests): We all have assumptions about what customers want. Actively seek to validate these. The insights can be surprising and invaluable. 🎯 Qualify, qualify, qualify: It's tempting to onboard anyone who shows interest. Resist that urge. Proper user qualification saves time, energy, and team morale in the long run. ⚡ Deliver value quickly: Users are often more forgiving of rough edges than you'd think, especially if they see the potential value. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. 🔄 Share feedback with your team: User insights aren't just for product development. They create a positive feedback loop that energizes your entire team. Bonus advice for other early-stage companies chasing PMF: Acquiring pilots is only half the battle. Retention is equally crucial. Go slow, qualify correctly, set clear expectations, and build customer care early. Turn your pilots into valuable partners in your product development. 🤝 ❓For those of you on the other side of your pilot program journey: What was the most surprising lesson you learned from your early users? If you’re building out your own pilot program or want to dig in to the CRM-specific learnings ours uncovered, check out our full blog post at the link in the comments 👇

𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄. 𝗔𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲. 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿? You’re not alone and it’s costing more than wasted meetings. Misalignment between users, design, and engineering is one of the biggest drivers of product delays, rework, frustration, and unexpected budget overruns. A practical way forward is emerging through Metaverse-enabled collaboration: a collaborative virtual workspace where every stakeholder can build, test, and refine ideas together in real time, with far clearer shared context. This approach is grounded in peer-reviewed research from Applied Sciences (2024) and built around a simple “Reality → Virtual → Reality” flow. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 → 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 Lead users, everyday users, designers, engineers, suppliers, and internal teams are identified up front. 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 → 𝗠𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 Using VR/XR tools and digital identities, participants collaborate as digital individuals—removing geographic and timing barriers. 𝗖𝗼-𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮 & 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 Align on needs and challenges 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 Refine prototypes together 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲 Explore early usability insights 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺 Blend user feedback with expert review Here’s how it works in practice: Bengaluru: A user suggests a navigation change Berlin: A designer updates the layout instantly Kuala Lumpur: A lead user explores the updated flow Detroit: Engineering checks manufacturability in minutes 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 What’s your biggest challenge in cross-functional product development? #ProductDevelopment #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #UX #Engineering

From Idea to MVP: Building CareCircle Building CareCircle, a shared care coordination app for families, has been a hands-on case in end-to-end product management. Each step, from identifying user pain points during discovery to defining clear MVP goals, was visually mapped using user story mapping. This approach ensured alignment around real user journeys, emphasizing user needs over mere features and providing clarity from the project's inception. 🗺️ User Story Map The story map facilitated the breakdown of backbone activities into detailed stories, complete with acceptance criteria, subtasks, and test cases. The integrated AI assistant within the story map interface significantly saved time and resources by understanding the backlog, brainstorming new items, identifying gaps, and enhancing user stories. 🔗 Jira Integration Integrating the map with Jira transformed it into a dynamic, functioning backlog. This integration empowered each team to manage its scope while maintaining a holistic view of the project. The visual user story map facilitated clear internal and client communication, simplifying alignment across the entire team. 🗓️ Product Roadmap Constructing roadmaps from the story map streamlined progress visibility and iteration planning. The adaptable roadmap structure, capable of tracking epics, releases, or groups of user stories, enhanced progress monitoring and high-level communication. The roadmap's prioritization, utilizing RICE and Value/Effort frameworks, proved invaluable. 🔄 Feedback Management Early feedback was collected and translated into actionable feature ideas, directly incorporated into the backlog based on user insights. The integrated feedback portals and idea boards supported prioritization based on genuine needs, fostering focused teams, aligned stakeholders, and user-centric decisions. End-to-End Success The comprehensive product management approach in the CareCircle project ensured team alignment, focus, and efficiency throughout all phases. By seamlessly connecting discovery, planning, execution, and feedback, the team minimized handoffs, mitigated rework, and expedited decision-making. Visual story mapping maintained clear priorities, managed complexity across teams,

Recently, I conducted user testing for some exciting projects at Stanford, and decided to share some insights. This post feels especially personal because it’s not just about design—it’s about my journey as both a student and a designer. When I first came to Stanford as an international student, I struggled with navigating its complex academic systems. It was frustrating, and I remember wishing for tools that could make things simpler and more intuitive. Fast forward to today, and I have the incredible opportunity to work on improving those very systems—side by side with current students. Listening to their frustrations during user testing brings back so many of my own memories. It’s a full-circle moment, where my past experiences fuel my passion to make these tools better for everyone. Here are some interesting insights: • 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Users often approach academic tools with mental models shaped by other apps or systems they use. Identifying and aligning with these expectations can significantly reduce confusion and improve engagement. • 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿: Academic tools are often used in high-pressure moments (e.g., enrollment deadlines). Testing revealed that reducing friction in the interface during these times significantly improves the overall experience. • 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Today’s students expect tools to adapt to their preferences, like saving search filters or suggesting classes based on their academic history. • 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆: Students value clear, visual representations of information, such as progress bars for degree completion or graphs showing their weekly workload distribution. • 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Designing for inclusivity means accounting for diverse backgrounds, from non-traditional students to those who are the first in their family to attend college. • 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱: Even after a design seems polished, user testing consistently uncovers areas for refinement, proving that the design process is never truly finished. User testing can be really challenging but truly rewarding in the end. I decided to share these moments to contribute to a community that’s all about learning and growing together. If you’ve got user testing stories or tips, I’d love to hear them—let’s inspire each other! #UXDesign #UIDesign #UserTesting #HumanCenteredDesign #DesignForEducation

Struggling to prioritize what truly matters in your UI design? Imagine transforming user feedback into actionable insights that elevate your design. Today, I’m sharing a step-by-step guide on how to use user feedback to prioritize attributes using Object-Oriented User Experience (OOUX) principles. Step 1️⃣ : Collect User Feedback 🟢 Gather Diverse Feedback Sources: ✔ User Interviews ✔ Surveys and Questionnaires ✔ Customer Service Logs ✔ Usability Testing Sessions ✔ Social Media Comments ✔ Online Reviews 🟢 Identify Key User Pain Points and Desires: ✔ Look for recurring themes and issues. ✔ Highlight specific feedback that pertains to particular attributes of your objects. Step 2️⃣ : Categorize Feedback 🟢 Sort Feedback by Object: ✔ Group feedback according to the object it pertains to (e.g., User, Product, Event). 🟢 Identify Attribute Mentions: ✔ Note down attributes mentioned in the feedback (e.g., “User’s history,” “Event’s profitability”). Step 3️⃣ : Prioritize Core Content and Metadata 🟢 Distinguish Between Core Content and Metadata: ✔ Core Content Attributes (🟨): Unique identifiers, essential data (e.g., username, event name). ✔ Metadata Attributes (🟥): Sorting, grouping, and filtering information (e.g., tags, categories, event date, time). 🟢 Rank Attributes Based on User Value: ✔ Use methods like MoSCoW (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have). ✔ Focus on attributes that solve key user pain points or enhance user satisfaction. Step 4️⃣ : Create Object Maps 🟢 Define Objects and Relationships: ✔ List objects identified from feedback. ✔ Establish relationships (e.g., “🟦 EVENT has 1 USER who created it,” “🟦 EVENT has 0-many COMMENTS”). 🟢 Map Out Attributes: ✔ Create detailed object maps with attributes categorized as core content (🟨) or metadata (🟥). ✔ Ensure attributes are clearly defined and consistently applied across objects. Step 5️⃣: Validate with Users 🟢 Prototype and Test: ✔ Create low-fidelity prototypes or wireframes incorporating prioritized attributes. ✔ Conduct usability tests to validate the importance and utility of the attributes. 🟢 Iterate Based on Feedback: ✔ Make adjustments based on user testing results. ✔ Continuously refine the prioritization and object mapping process. Using user feedback to prioritize attributes ensures that your design is user-centered and effectively addresses user needs. This process not only enhances user satisfaction but also streamlines development by focusing on what matters most to users. How do you incorporate user feedback into your design process? Let’s discuss in the comments! #OOUX #UXDesign #UserFeedback #UserExperience #UIDesign #DesignThinking #ProductDesign #CustomerSatisfaction #ContinuousImprovement

Some of you disagreed with my last post. Fair. Let's talk. Let me explain the topic a bit more and give you a deep dive into how I see the new process. The old way: Think → Research → Wireframe → Design → Spec → Hand off → Build → Test → Iterate Weeks. Sometimes months. Before anyone touches real code. The new way: 👉 Step 1: Start with a problem, not a doc. I don't need a full PRD. I need one thing. Example: "𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘰." That's it. That's the brief. 👉 Step 2: Build the ugliest working version. I open Lovable or Cursor and prompt my way to a prototype. Not a mockup. Not a Figma file. A real, clickable, functional thing. 30 minutes. Maybe an hour. 👉 Step 3: Use it. Don't refine it. Don't show it to anyone yet. Use it yourself like a real user would. Click every button. Try to break it. Feel where it's awkward. 👉 Step 4: Now design. This is where design skill actually matters. You're not guessing what the experience should feel like. You already know because you felt it. Now you fix what's broken, remove what's unnecessary, and polish what works. Maybe pivot or try other solutions. 👉 Step 5: Show it, don't spec it. Instead of a 20-page spec, I send a link. "Here, try this. What's confusing?" Real feedback on a real thing beats hypothetical feedback on a hypothetical thing every single time. 👉 Step 6: Iterate in minutes, not weeks. Here's where this workflow really pulls ahead. Someone says, "This flow is confusing." You don't update a Figma file, write a ticket, and wait for the next sprint. You open Cursor, fix it, and send a new link. Same conversation. Same day. The feedback loop goes from weeks to hours. Sometimes minutes. And each round gets sharper because you're iterating on something real. 3-4 rounds of this, and you have something more validated than most products get after months of traditional process. 👉 Step 7: Document what you built, not what you plan to build. Documentation becomes a record, not a prediction. It's accurate because the thing already exists. You can do it at the end or during the process. Why this works: You make decisions with information instead of assumptions. You eliminate 80% of the back-and-forth. You design from experience, not imagination. And you iterate at the speed of conversation, not the speed of sprints. Why it feels wrong at first: Because we were trained to think before we build. And thinking first felt responsible. But we did that because we couldn't build. Now we can. And I don't think it's about ignoring thinking. (𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵) I believe it's about doing it at every step. Refining it based on real feedback. Insights you can get internally and from user testing. If you're still reading this, let me know what you think about it all. ✌️