I was just wondering if anyone knew, if Apple, Inc. allowed consumers to test their products and report back their findings to apple. If so, I would love to do this. Is their anyone out there who knows about this without me having to call the Corporate Office in California? Thanks guys!
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Apple Testing
- Thread starter DavidPlunk
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I was just wondering if anyone knew, if Apple, Inc. allowed consumers to test their products and report back their findings to apple. If so, I would love to do this. Is their anyone out there who knows about this without me having to call the Corporate Office in California? Thanks guys!
From what I understand, Apple doesn't do this, which is probably why their products are well done. Too much input from just anyone can lead a product down the wrong road. Not that you would, but I think they rely on themselves to make devices that they would love themselves.
I assume they do run usability tests in a controlled focus group setting. I can't imagine they'd neglect some public testing before releasing a product into the wild. This kind of testing is probably local to their home office, and is something you couldn't sign up for deliberately.
No focus group testing? They're the only company on the planet then that doesn't publicly test new products before going to market. Still find that very hard to believe.
So you're telling me they never tested the usability of the first iPod, the Apple TV, and the iPhone with the public before releasing them?
And how would you know they didn't? Software is one thing, but consumer products is entirely different.
Everything I have read states this to be true. They are probably the only company that doesn't do this. But it must work since they do a darn good job compared to those who do focus group testing.
I'd guess that they actually do have focus group testing of almost everything they release, however they have a small selection of people who are under very strict NDAs. It's economically unrealistic to come up with a product and release it with absolutely no consumer testing, plus it rarely can happen, because either a) investors refuse or b) it's difficult to put a product together seamlessly and cover absolutely every base without having a panel of people from the 'real world' to give input on it.
They really do tend to avoid it. From Teh Steve hisself:
Q: Did you do consumer research on the iMac when you were developing it?
A: No. We have a lot of customers, and we have a lot of research into our installed base. We also watch industry trends pretty carefully. But in the end, for something this complicated, it's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why a lot of people at Apple get paid a lot of money, because they're supposed to be on top of these things.
Q: Did you do consumer research on the iMac when you were developing it?
A: No. We have a lot of customers, and we have a lot of research into our installed base. We also watch industry trends pretty carefully. But in the end, for something this complicated, it's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why a lot of people at Apple get paid a lot of money, because they're supposed to be on top of these things.