Reboot

Chapter 6Testing, testing

We were so much further along than I ever imagined we would be. The mechanics of how the shoes would be made seemed operational. It was time to step up in the ‘Maslow's hierarchy'-like needs that a company must have to survive. Did the experience work in practice? Did people like the experience we'd built? How much should it cost?

Beta testing

As the first version of our software was completed and our first suppliers were engaged, we not only spoke to as many women in our lives as we could about our idea, but we also asked them to be our first customers.

I sat in meeting rooms at Google Sydney at lunchtime, delivering shoes and receiving feedback from colleagues of Michael and Mike who had participated in the beta test. I did the same with women at The Campaign Palace and with friends we'd invited to try it out as well. We gave them our cost price for shoes they designed on our early software in exchange for candid feedback. The feedback was varied, interesting and very candid. ‘If you stuff up you should just own it,' said one tester whose shoes arrived after the estimated delivery time. Blunt and fair. The greatest friction I had with this was that we simply could not address it all. I felt confused about what to focus on, and just wanted to please everyone. Between Michael, Mike and me we broke the list down and prioritised it, but in those first days of hearing the feedback, it was difficult to organise it into something actionable.

We then got ...