As an employee and a freelancer, I’ve seen plenty of brands fall prey to a shiny object syndrome where they want to build a feature they saw a competitor launch or simply thought was a good idea. Then, they build that idea without knowing if their audience needs or wants it — they skip usability testing.
“In many companies, if the leading competitor has this feature and we think it’s a good idea, validation is done. It never works,” shares author and product leader Itamar Gilad. “You should not assume that your competitor actually knows what they are doing any more than you do. I always ask, ‘Where is your evidence?’”