Know Your Customer

Too often, software developers are shielded from the actual customer. For externally developed software the customer is the person who is going to actually be using the product, not the “expert” or client liaison inside the company. Just like externally developed software, the software developed for internal usage customer is the person who is actually using the software. These are the people whose jobs you are trying to improve and they are the ones that need to be studied.

A client of mine in the travel business invites frequent and novice travelers to its offices, and then they watch travelers use the software application. Another one of my clients develops software for retirees. It watches retired people click around the application. The client is amazed at how many retires will participate in a focus group when there are donuts and coffee. All of these software organizations get to know their customers, and they learn how the application is helping or not helping their customers solve problems.