{"slug": "my-potential-users-are-just-busy-or-are-they", "title": "My Potential Users are Just Busy… Or Are They?", "summary": "A developer building an AI garden visualization tool discovered that a friend's initial enthusiasm didn't translate into action, revealing that the problem wasn't painful enough to motivate participation. After the friend eventually sent photos and requested multiple mockup revisions, the developer realized that observing user behavior—such as sending photos and requesting changes—provides more reliable evidence of genuine need than verbal praise. The experience taught the developer to watch actions over words, as people make time for what truly hurts, not just what sounds interesting.", "body_md": "When I first told a friend about my AI garden visualization idea, she said\n\nWhat a great idea! Sounds interesting!\n\nSo I asked her to send me her backyard photos for testing! Then a week went by, she didn't send any photo. I assume: \"she’s a busy doctor. She works long shifts, late nights, and weekends.\"\n\nBut after reading *The Mom Test*, I’m starting to think there was a simpler explanation: **The problem wasn’t painful enough.**\n\nAbout a week later, she contacted me again. This time, she sent photos of her parents’ backyard.\n\nNot just the photos - she explained the layout, described the constraints, and talked about wheelchair access for her elderly parents.\n\nI then did a AI mockup for it. She reviewed it, thanked me and asked for more changes. And, she mentioned something I never asked about:\n\nOne of the biggest lessons from *The Mom Test* is that people are poor predictors of their future behavior. What they *do* is always more informative than what they *say*.\n\nLooking at my friend’s actions, the data points were clear:\n\n**What I Know:**\n\n**What I Don’t Know:**\n\nBased on the evidence, a more reasonable hypothesis might be:\n\nHomeowners planning significant outdoor renovations want a low-cost way to visualize ideas before committing to expensive design and construction decisions.\n\nThat’s not necessarily:\n\nPeople want an AI garden design app.\n\nThe first statement comes from observed behavior. The second statement is still an **assumption**.\n\nTo actually see these insights, I'm realizing the most important thing is to approach these conversations as a blank slate.\n\nI have to remain completely detached from the outcome.\n\nWithout that detached attitude, it is still incredibly easy to be biased and read into a situation something that isn't actually there. It requires a lot of practice and a constant shifting of perspective.\n\nI am still learning. But with practice, I know I can get better at it over time.\n\nThe most valuable thing I gained from this experience wasn’t validation for my product. It was learning to **watch actions** instead of listening only to words.\n\nWhen someone says *\"Interesting idea,\"* it tells me very little. But when someone spends money, sends photos, reviews mockups, and keeps coming back - that's evidence that the problem is serious enough to even began the conversations.\n\nBecause people don’t make time for what sounds interesting. They make time for what hurts.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/my-potential-users-are-just-busy-or-are-they", "canonical_source": "https://dev.to/cathylai/my-potential-users-are-just-busy-or-are-they-4olf", "published_at": "2026-06-03 14:33:01+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-03 14:42:58.311416+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-startups", "ai-products", "ai-tools"], "entities": ["The Mom Test"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/my-potential-users-are-just-busy-or-are-they", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/my-potential-users-are-just-busy-or-are-they.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/my-potential-users-are-just-busy-or-are-they.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/my-potential-users-are-just-busy-or-are-they.jsonld"}}