I think it's really important to ask people what they think about Gum Drop. I make them sit down and play with the game and try to ask questions. However since alot of people never tend to be critical about what they are truly experiencing, I have to look at the screen and watch how the ship goes about. I look at it and try to imagine how and what is confusing the player. Currently the build is in late alpha stages where I have only seriously begun getting feedback from people unfamilliar with the game. This helps me figure out what parts of the game are confusing to others. I am obviously biased because I pretty much wrote the whole system and know what to expect between different interactions.
But other than that, the game is progressing along. My hat is turning more game designer at this point rather than game programmer, as now I have to tackle with game balancing, feedback, and usability.