"There is a vast, vast gulf between what the majority of software developers seem to think users want, and what users actually want."
s/want/need/2
Another truism: Users are generally resilient and will adapt to whatever they are forced to use.
There are some very strong ideas shared by developers about what users allegedly "want". But most of the time I think developers are just invoking the mythical "user" in defending their own choices in software design, not users'. Users have little if any choice.
Is it possible that those who purport to "know" what users want are simply observing how users have adapted to using what they were given? (the users having had no real choice of real alternatives)
As a user, in the cases where I cannot write the software myself, I try to find programmers who share my sensibilities in software design.
This is the best hope I have for finding software that I would "want".
Despite what any programmer proclaims about her users, what I the user end up choosing is not the the software I want (I do not ask other programmers to write programs or add features, etc.).
I end up with the software the developer would herself want and is generous enough to share with others.
Fortunately we have some interest in the same things: no gui, portable, small, fast, simple, etc.
> But most of the time I think developers are just invoking the mythical "user" in defending their own choices in software design, not users'. Users have little if any choice.
Agreed, but the problem is much deeper than this: different users want different things. You'll only hear from the users who don't like what they have.
s/want/need/2
Another truism: Users are generally resilient and will adapt to whatever they are forced to use.
There are some very strong ideas shared by developers about what users allegedly "want". But most of the time I think developers are just invoking the mythical "user" in defending their own choices in software design, not users'. Users have little if any choice.
Is it possible that those who purport to "know" what users want are simply observing how users have adapted to using what they were given? (the users having had no real choice of real alternatives)
As a user, in the cases where I cannot write the software myself, I try to find programmers who share my sensibilities in software design.
This is the best hope I have for finding software that I would "want".
Despite what any programmer proclaims about her users, what I the user end up choosing is not the the software I want (I do not ask other programmers to write programs or add features, etc.).
I end up with the software the developer would herself want and is generous enough to share with others.
Fortunately we have some interest in the same things: no gui, portable, small, fast, simple, etc.