Improve your market research: Think like a woman

March 29, 2010

Tags: internet ideas, market research, women

A recent article in the New York Magazine shows research that gender stereotypes are probably not that accurate, in fact quite the opposite might be true. The article is about women in the high stress environment as Wall Street traders. The author, Sheelah Kolhatkar, argues that women are better at handling their emotions and may perform better in their trader jobs than their male counter parts. This idea of course runs counter to the stereotype that women are more emotional then men.

So what does this have to do with software development and web design?

If you are working on a new internet sensation that you’d like to develop, one of the keys to success is doing your homework. The market research phase will tell you among other points:

Has it been done before
How likely is it to succeed
How can it best be marketed
What payment model should you use

And two of the keys to market research are 1) diversity of opinion and 2) controlling your emotions that this is the biggest idea since peeled bananas.

During market research, consult many different sources and people.

Use the internet, your friends, government census data, available market data, and call businesses first hand. This research will give you a diversity of opinion. My own experience in all male software development teams has showed me that without a diversity of opinion, we were very likely to spend far too much time on strategies that never worked. When I worked in more gender balanced teams, we never seemed to get stuck down never ending paths. Research takes time, but without solid facts from multiple different sources, you may go down a road that never pans out. Have the patience to research your idea first.

Secondly, this article shows us the importance of being able to control our emotions.

Perhaps its human nature, or maybe just western culture, but we have the Get Rich Quick syndrome wired fairly deep in our thoughts. The reality is that no one gets rich quick, but its hard for all of us to remember this when we see gold in our internet idea. Kolhatkar’s article argues that women in the high stress environment of stock trading were actually more likely to be able to control their emotions then men. Likewise, I encourage you to be excited about your idea, but not allow your dreams of success to cloud the facts before you. That happens to all of us, but try and remember to do the market research to validate your idea’s feasibility.

One strategy I’ve found helpful in reining in my own “Daiquiri in the Caribbean Syndrome” is to remember that even if my internet idea is fantastic, its going to require a good deal of my time and dedication. Even if the idea is just a e-commerce site, I should plan to spend several hours a week updating products and my marketing copy as well as looking at site statistics. An important aspect to starting a new internet idea is that you are passionate about the subject. That passion for the subject will keep you going through the different (and sometimes difficult) phases of the project.

So if you have a moment, take a look at the New York Magazine article and consider the roll emotions play. With patience and dedication to your interest and proper market research, there is nothing you cannot do.