Early Customer Feedback on MAST®
alpha and beta testing on Transformative and Disruptive Technologies
The MAST® system represents both a transformative and disruptive technology The upcoming global launch can be attributed to various strategic successes by the MAST® team. One pivotal reason for this success was the early engagement with collaborative customers using alpha prototypes. These interactions provided critical insights which allowed for the definition of new and significant user requirements, leading to the inclusion of essential functional requirements that were crucial for the product’s effective implementation in real-world scenarios.
Many lessons from this process can be broadly applied to other transformative and disruptive technologies. Firstly, novel product concepts are filled with uncertainties: What is the true value of the technology? Is it mature enough to enter the market? Is the market ready for it? And what key features might be missing? Customers are challenged to articulate clear requirements for new technologies, as they can only begin to envision how such technologies could enhance their processes. This leads to diverse user requirements among different customers.
For transformative or disruptive technologies, waiting until the beta prototype stage could be too late. Beta prototypes already have the major features integrated and functional base code established. This means that only minor adjustments to the user requirements are possible. Alternatively, engaging customers at the alpha prototype phase allows end users to have experiences with the product that could lead to previously unforeseen user requirements. Alpha prototypes can be rough and the operation a bit clunky. Because of this, it is essential that customers evaluating alpha prototypes realize that they are part of a collaboration, and their input is valuable to the development process.
Effective collaboration works best if customers have “skin in the game.” There are multiple ways of getting customer engagement. A big one is convincing the customer to support some of the development costs. Benefits for the customer here is to see these prototypes before their competition and they have an opportunity to suggest user requirements that benefit them. Customers who are suitably engaged will understand that early-stage prototypes might fail, are willing to integrate testing into their schedules quickly, are willing to share resultant data, and are able to participate in regular project discussions. Getting this customer engagement helps in refining the technology, creating novel user requirements and allows for upselling future development stages. The benefits of early prototype testing with customers include validating whether the technology works as expected, uncovering key features that might be missing, assessing if the benefits justify the implementation efforts, and gathering feedback on user experience, resource savings, and pricing.
The MAST® team engaged multiple partners early on, using rough prototypes with frequent update meetings to gather invaluable insights and data. This early customer involvement was instrumental; without it, the commercialization of MAST® technology might not have been possible.
