How to figure out if you've built something people want.
1) Get someone to give you money. Hearing, "oh, I'd buy that!" is not the same as, "here's my credit card number."
2) Get them to give you money even though your product is not totally ready for prime time. Basically, even though your product is not done, not refined, difficult to use, etc., having your product is still so much better than not having it that someone is still willing to pay.
3) Short of getting someone to pay you, get them to get past some level of friction. If someone will invest their time to cross the chasm of not-user to user, it means they really want what is on the other side.
4) Get someone to use your product again. There's a reason online apps look at Active Daily/Monthly Users. If someone uses it, then uses it again... it must be something they want.
5) Don't have a product yet, just an idea... pre-orders (see point 1).
6) Can't even take pre-orders... You're just guessing. Build an MVP (or minimum sellable product if you're in enterprise). Don't try to take on the world. Find the minimum that can offer. Then go back to point 1.
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How to figure out if you've built something people want.
1) Get someone to give you money. Hearing, "oh, I'd buy that!" is not the same as, "here's my credit card number."
2) Get them to give you money even though your product is not totally ready for prime time. Basically, even though your product is not done, not refined, difficult to use, etc., having your product is still so much better than not having it that someone is still willing to pay.
3) Short of getting someone to pay you, get them to get past some level of friction. If someone will invest their time to cross the chasm of not-user to user, it means they really want what is on the other side.
4) Get someone to use your product again. There's a reason online apps look at Active Daily/Monthly Users. If someone uses it, then uses it again... it must be something they want.
5) Don't have a product yet, just an idea... pre-orders (see point 1).
6) Can't even take pre-orders... You're just guessing. Build an MVP (or minimum sellable product if you're in enterprise). Don't try to take on the world. Find the minimum that can offer. Then go back to point 1.