How do you come up with ideas for new features (products)?

For me, coming up with new ideas for features or products typically involves a combination of research, brainstorming, and experimentation. I start by researching the market and identifying customer needs and pain points, as well as any gaps or opportunities that may exist. I then use brainstorming sessions, either alone or with a team, to generate a wide range of potential ideas and solutions. Finally, I try to prototype and test these ideas to see which ones have the most potential, and iterate and refine them until I arrive at a final product concept. This process is not always linear, and often involves a lot of trial and error, but it helps me to generate creative and innovative ideas that address real customer needs.

Hey Sveta! Personally ideas come to my mind whenever I encounter problems in my life, that's my biggest source.

I get product ideas from: - Customer Feedback: Listening to them or via surveys - Product Analytics: Using tools like hotjar to check heatmaps - Market Research: To understand the trends and user behavior - Competition: See what they are doing and how to improve

A good deal of it goes to being customer-focused and also mission. The trick is to find a systematic way to: Understand customer needs -> develop solutions/execute -> iterate and get customer feedback It’s simple to state it but actually very difficult to implement. Startups who succeed tend to have figured this system out and use it robustly

1. spend time researching your competition. 2. reach out to your customers and try having phone calls with them. 3. analyze your data 4. talk with your team 5. talk to enthusiast people who would love to give you feedback and new ideas (crowdsource). twitter gets tons of feedback for new features for example

So far I was mostly building the features I need myself. Because I'm actively using my product. But recently I started thinking more from the target audience perspective and try and narrow down the features for the niche. Following the competitors also helps. Nice if your competitors have some kind of roadmap or public feature request board.

Love this question. For me, it works best to look for issues that I personally experience. Not only because it is "easier" to find a solution because you fully understand the problem, but also because you are building it for yourself in the first place. The latter helps you stay motivated in the long run too. And, if the product fails, you still solved your own problem 🥳

I think as idea makers and entepreneurs we have to be like a social benefactor to the people, so trying to solve any problem i think could be the answer

It is kind of easy. For new features of existing projects - talk to your existing customers or, at least, listen to their support requests. For new product ideas - just keeps your eyes open. Any inconvenience or a feature in another product that doesn't work as expected or missing is an opportunity for a new project. An example, I got tired of just uploading all my travel pics to Google photos because it gives you no way to display the trip on the map, add comments to individual photos or days etc. So I decided to build my own https://pictur.app/. I know that this product will make at least one person happy, me.

I think one of the greatest ideas I spotted on an app is letting the user participate in this. Suggest and vote for new features, the rest would be just guessing.

Hi Sveta, My opinion as a product designer, I believe users’ feedback can help to decide the next feature for a product. Though the features may be a part of your plan for future updates, the feedback will aid in a better presentation and user experience. By the way, I'm launching a product soon for anonymous reviews in the workplace, kindly check it out https://www.producthunt.com/prod....

I use a combination of advanced algorithms and data analysis to identify potential opportunities for new features. By analyzing trends in user behavior, customer surveys, and industry trends, I can come up with ideas for new products or features that could be beneficial to customers. I also rely on feedback from our team of engineers and product specialists to validate my ideas.

Listening to your customers is better if you already have a product, but focusing on your vision is more important. If not, it's better to solve a problem you faced or others faced worth solving. Otherwise, dive deep into your industry or exciting topics you will find a problem worth solving.

I get product ideas from: - Customer Survey: Chatting with them or via surveys for first-time products to understand pain points - Market Research: Updates from industry publications subscribed to - Competition: See what they are doing and how to improve. Building up on this, I built a database of model maps and notes of tech products in my market to ease study and innovation, which I'd be sharing as a learning tool at trybidhaa.com soon (Open to sharing updates here https://twitter.com/trybidhaa)

we use our github issues - a lot of users have great ideas and they share it with us

-> Talking to users help in understanding the missing areas where they are lagging behind and what would they like. -> Having public roadmap helps in getting ideas and support from users across different segments and businesses.

Hi! I find talking to customers directly very insightful. Of course, there are different customers, but this is a great feedback channel if you know who your ICP is and whom to talk to. Also using your own product on a daily basis is also helpful :)

Discussing with great minds lead to creative ideas. And also, researching more on the what people expect or miss

Hi Sveta, Interacting with customers is the best way to get new ideas. Also being in the customers shoes always helps to come up with great ideas.

At Specify , we started experimenting with Shape Up a few months ago. We define key elements before we consider them ready to work on. It helps us shape new, significant product ideas and features. For further inspiration on the topic, I recommend reading this AMA session with @rjs, Head of Product Strategy at Basecamp and author of Shape Up ✌️