Feedback Loops

In the ever-evolving quest of creating, improving, and ultimately producing the best products we can, I want this post to touch on the feedback loop of our current products.

Shawn and I have trialed the first test run of receiving in-depth feedback regarding a single product (the performance running jacket). Feedback is one of the most valuable pieces of data that we can collect. As the business grows, I want to build feedback loops into all parts of our process (to improve employee quality of life) and products/experiences to further improve our customers' lives/experiences (as best we can).

In thinking about the running jacket, which, even in version 1, is a high-performing jacket that punches above its price point, I knew (from personal experience and talking with friends) that we could find some ways to improve version 2 of this product.

Some initial thoughts that I had after putting roughly 50+ training runs into the jacket:

1. The hood, while nice in theory, needs a way to be packable. I often tucked it into the jacket so it was not blowing around in the winter wind.

2. The zipper didn't cause me any specific issues, but I felt that we could improve its level of durability.

3. Addition of some form of inner chest pocket that could be used for keys, cards, or phones - with the bonus of keeping it protected from the elements

We decided to poll a small sample size of people who had purchased the jacket to see if they had similar thoughts (and we hoped we could glean some new information that we might not have been seeing ourselves).

Others clearly had trouble with the hood, and we proposed a simple fix of making it packable. Below is the updated flat of the added zipper seam the hood will pack into. Since we do not have a physical sample yet, I cannot tell you how it has performed, but my initial only concern is with the weight of the zipper and making sure that it does not bounce or become noticeable when training.

More feedback screenshots of things that I found interesting are below:

Taking the above into account - we proposed a host of new changes (including the ones already mentioned) as well as a new range of colors to bring this fall/winter.

Down the road, I would like many of the items we work on to go through this process. Our team is fortunate enough to wear and test almost everything we make, but nothing beats the feedback given by the community of people who use the products every day.

The survey sent out for the jacket seemed easy enough to answer and provide feedback. I also wonder if anyone reading this has done something similar for other things and may have a suggestion for the best system for gathering such valuable information.

Articles I found interesting this week:

How Plastics Are Poisoning Us

Case Study: Algorithmic Trading With Go

How to Do Great Work