On Mondays, development team members decide on something they wish they knew about their users and come up with a Question of the Week. Maybe they want to know which web browser their users prefer. Or maybe they want to know if users have ever run the product's tutorial. At the end of every tech support call, the support rep asks the question and records the answer. Every Friday a member of the development team collects this information, summarizes it, and forwards it to everyone involved with the product.
Most users are more than happy to answer the questions.
In fact, they think it's cool they're being asked. And the company inexpensively and painlessly gathers hundreds of pieces of information about real users every week. Faster is Better Successful companies don't spend time refining ideas until they've proven that they work. Instead, they focus on shortening the development cycle by doing frequent, fast iterations. Often One of our clients brings in users for testing every other Wednesday, just like clockwork.