When I rolled out the first beta version of PageFour over two months ago, I was convinced that the only changes I would need to make before releasing the full product would be a few minor bug fixes. I could not have been more wrong.

Like so many software designers before me, I made the fatal mistake of assuming I knew what was best. I assumed that because I had decided particular features were important, my potential market would feel the same; that because I felt something was acceptable in its current form, everyone else would agree; that because I worked in a certain way, so too would the thousands of writers out there who I was writing PageFour for.

In retrospect, I can see how my first beta release was more about testing the idea behind the product, than testing the product itself.

I’ll be honest - it threw me just a little at first. But I took it on the chin, went back to the drawing board, and made many of the major structural changes that were suggested. The end result was a first release that was far superior to the version I had planned.

An idea in isolation is just an idea - it needs refining before it can become anything substantial. Developing an idea into a product for use by other people cannot succeed without the input and knowledge of those people.

Version 1.2 of PageFour is due for release in four weeks. It contains many of the suggested enhancements from the previous beta run not yet incorporated; enhancements that mark a significant improvement in the product.

The beta version of 1.2 will be released next weekend. This time around, I can’t wait for the feedback.

Let’s say you have a brilliant idea. You absolutely love it, think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, and are firmly convinced that it will revolutionise the way people think about XYZ - not to mention the fortune it is sure to make you. But before you spend any time doing in depth market research - or simply bypass this critical step and start designing - you decide to run your idea past a few other people.

Now, this is the smart thing to do - all the books say so!

Just how valid are the responses you get? When I was starting work on version one of PageFour, I ran the idea past a number of people - some I’d known for a long time, some I’d never met or even spoke to, and some were anonymous fonts of ‘free’ advice on internet discussion boards.

The responses I received fell into three categories:

“That’s a fantastic idea. Go for it! Life is short.”

Of all the feedback I received, 95% fell into categories one or two, with a roughly even split between them.

“A fantastic idea”

Sitting back and listening to the carpe diem crowd can be uplifting for about five minutes. You feel vindicated, energised and convinced that you’ve really got something here. Then you start to wonder. The guy sitting opposite you, spewing forth on the joys he had starting his first company twenty years ago, wishing he were young again, is the same guy who ran his own company into the ground by jumping on every band-wagon that passed him by, and by accepting every new idea presented to him by a suit with an MBA as if it were the holy grail. Channel partners anyone?

Just how valid is “That’s a fantastic idea,” as a solid assessment of a business plan?

“Rubbish”

Now, negative feedback can be really constructive. You have the opportunity to hear from people with all sorts of experience on what may be wrong with your product or idea, what pitfalls lie before you, how company B tried the same thing only to discover that the market really wanted something else. But so much of this criticism comes in the form of aggressive slap-downs, rather than anything you can really use. You can just picture the same people who respond to you in this way moving on to flame and troll their way across the internet, happy in their anonymity, free to wallow in their own uninspiring tired lives.

The third response is the only one that matters. It doesn’t matter how many people think your idea is fantastic, or how many people think it’s the dumbest thing they’ve ever heard. These are probably the same people who were sure the dot com bubble would never burst, or that this whole internet thing was just a fad anyway.

“Sit at my feet”

In the early stages, every idea has a hundred and one things wrong with it. A second or third version of a product may have nothing in common with the original idea apart from the name, and sometimes not even that. Real, honest, constructive criticism should help you identify some of these areas; should help you to move from your initial idea to something that might resemble a product, or at the very least help you identify the areas that may cause problems as you move forward.

If you are lucky enough to find someone who offers you this kind of advice, get down on your knees and worship them. Beg to be their apprentice. Call them Yoda if you have to, but listen to every word they say.