Hey everyone!
I'm more than halfway through my first month of 12 Startups in 12 Months, and I've already learned so much. My first product is https://spindle.licoriceworks.com. It's a tool to help math educators communicate with their students more efficiently.
The past week or so, I've been focused on doing (potential) customer interviews and collecting feedback. I've been able to talk to two professors and one indie hacker (@SeaCat). Listening to this feedback, I've made several changes to clear-up positioning and improve the app.
PRODUCT IMPROVEMENTS:
Feedback:
One professor that looked at the site had some feedback, "it would be great to have a larger text area." He also was using Firefox where the copy button was broken.
When he went to paste the image, it just pasted the LaTex code that was on his clipboard, and he said that the tools would be "better if it copies the image rather than the latex itself." My landing page wasn't even clear enough for him to know the tool wasn't working!
Response:
The text area was one-line-high and on the landing page. I created a dedicated /app page that had a larger text area. I then replaced the area on the landing page that had the tiny demo with a GIF of how the tool is supposed to work.
Feedback:
User @SeaCat said, "I looked at the page and don't get it. If I copy the raw formula, it will not be rendered properly as the chat or email doesn't have the corresponding lib installed. How is that supposed to work?" I responded with step-by-step instructions which they said should be on the site, and @SeaCat also pointed out that the my name for the "render button" wasn't clear.
Response:
This was another person indicating that my site and the functionality of Spindle were unclear. On the new /app page, I added a "How to Use Spindle" section with pictures of the button needed for each step.
POSITIONING IMPROVEMENTS:
Feedback:
One professor said that one of the biggest problems he had with helping students over email was that "writing down the math when [he's] too lazy for latex." This is great! That's EXACTLY the pain point I'm trying to solve. Does my landing page reflect that... no. The copy I had in the hero section was, "Quick snippets of equations. Communicate math quickly. Copy directly into email or chat." Nothing about how I help him with his students.
Response:
I changed my hero copy to, "include equations in email seamlessly and respond to students' math questions faster than ever before." I tried to address his pain more directly and in the way that he saw it.
Feedback:
One of the professors said, "if I could go to Overleaf, write the solution for the student, and then copy it there - what's the benefit of the spindle?" He also brought up another competitive alternative, "there is also a tradeoff between typing it in LaTeX or writing it on a piece of paper [then] sending a photo to the student."
Response:
To address both of these, I decided to add two sections to my landing page addressing these competitive alternatives: "Why use Spindle instead of Overleaf?" and "Why use Spindle instead of hand writing".
Does anyone have ideas of how to address this feedback better? How do you adjust product and positioning based on customer feedback?