One product has more users, but the feedback is mostly "looks useful."
The other has fewer users. But a few are willing to show you how they use it and try your next update.
You only have time to focus on one this month.
The usual answer is to pick the one with users already asking for changes. Or the one with the larger market, stronger technology, or the shortest path to launch.
Those comparisons still matter. But they don't tell you how hard it will be to keep improving after launch.
On Hacker News, a founder was deciding which of four tools to open-source first. Two were already built, and one was getting some users through ChatGPT. The founder said they weren't talking to enough customers, and improvements were coming slowly after the initial build.
If you can build the first version but then struggle to improve it, there's another cost to compare: how much work it takes to find out what to change, every time.
A signup, a compliment, or a feature request can show interest. It doesn't necessarily show you how the product fits into someone's work, where they get stuck, or whether the last update helped.
If a lack of useful feedback is what's slowing you down, the product with fewer users may deserve more of your time. In the opening example, some of those users are willing to show you their work and try an update. That gives you a chance to follow up on a change, instead of starting each round by finding new people and explaining everything again.
That doesn't make it the bigger opportunity. Reliability, maintenance, licensing, distribution, or willingness to pay may matter more. If one of those is holding you back, better access to feedback may not change which product deserves priority.
I'd compare more than the effort needed to launch each product. I'd also compare how much work it takes to get useful feedback for the next change, and the one after that. An easy first build can still leave you starting from scratch to find out what to fix every time.
Top comments (1)
I'd lean toward the product with fewer users who share how they work. Before deciding, you could ask each of those users what they would do next if your update shipped tomorrow, and see if the answers line up. If they do, that is a real direction. Have you tried asking the larger group one specific question instead of waiting for feedback?