Fake call-to-action buttons for research

Question

At our company, we carry out 2-week sprints. The product roadmap is set for one quarter in advance. So, when a new feature is later identified as important, we wouldn't have time for it right away. We've got a great solution (hopefully) for this:

Have the feature's call to action button on our website. When users click on it, we pop up a modal saying:

Hey firstname, the feature is under construction and will be coming out soon. In the meantime, you can mail us and we will carry out your request right away. Thank you!

We are expecting that this method would give us a pretty good insight and research on how many users actually want the feature. How many of 'em are potential adopters.

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• Anyone having good ideas on this method, Please answer or comment.
• Will fake call to action buttons create bad impressions. 'coz the feature itself doesn't exist.
• Any previous experiences with similar stories are invited.
• Any better idea than this?
• Any better reasons or arguments than what I've got here for implementing the method?
• Any add ons or improvements to this method?

All are welcome. Thank you! :)

Answer 1

_{It's quite a broad question and requires a lot of elaborate discussions to arrive at a conclusive "answer" but here are some of my observations and experiences}

User Expectation - Users don't like to be duped

Even though the intention is noble and might turn out to be a good way to gauge the user patterns and inform them about an upcoming feature, it still feels like a fake-out. A user would click on a CTA with the expectation that it would perform the "said action" but the system would trigger a message that it can't perform the action just yet.

"I can't create a template as of now, so why tell me that I can Create Template"

Know your audience

A VP, Director, CEO, CTO, board member would appreciate a mockup of a future idea and see the vision. They'd see what's there to come and decide on whether that's good or bad.

But. the end user doesn't care about the big picture while interacting with the system. They'd not want to know what they can't do yet. They care about what they can, now.

Be subtle

Many sites use subtle and non-invasive ways to inform their users about upcoming features and that works well. I remember Bootstrap doing a great job with their banner. Just dismiss-able header on top of the default header that said, "Bootstrap 4 is coming! Cards, reboot, Sass and tons more!". Bootstrap 4 is now out, but if you go to an older version, you will still see the banner that helps you to get redirected to the newest one

Answer 2

First of all your design should do what it says, if you try to trick your user it might give negative vibes to the users.

Probable Solution

The solution you have proposed seems a bit risky, as your user might feel fooled if your CTA button does not perform the action what is says. instead if you can rename your CTA in such a way that it will suggest the user that you are asking them to email their quiry and not performing the actual action. so what you are trying to do will still be achieved and your user won't feel faked-out.

Answer 3

As you already have a pool of users why not have them suggest features, upvote them or even propose new ones and base your feature roadmap according to that ? Example: https://adobexd.uservoice.com/forums/353007-adobe-xd-feature-requests

Edit to fit the purpose better:

There is still a faster way to do this. Instead of asking them to e-mail you, have them push a button like an upvote one that notifies you and the text can be something along the lines of : " It`s your decision what feature comes out next ! Upvote it and we will accelerate the feature" , this creates a sense of inclusion, interaction and makes the company more human."