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Focus on the high-expectation customer

uxdesign.cc

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Re: Focus on the high-expectation customer

#4

Great article. When you design in that niche in your mind, it gives you a different perspective. It is a similar approach to what feature to have in the product is equally important to what features not to have there.

> It is a similar approach to what feature to have in the product is equally important to what features not to have there.

1000 times this. I used to work for a company that would add features if a customer asked for them and was willing to pay for them. Needless to say the product felt bloated, was hard to develop and maintain.

It was almost comical to see the Tech lead get incensed when a feature he'd lovingly crafted was completely and utterly unknown to the support team because no customer had used it, not even the customer that nominally had paid for it.

Unfortunately, this happened more than once.

edit:

I should add that our official day rate was comically low and sometimes would go lower to match what the sales person thought the customer would be willing to pay while nominally making a profit, I wish I were making this up.

Re: Focus on the high-expectation customer

#5
> You won’t just end with a product that solves real problems, you will win loyal customers who are vested in improving the product.

This is so true - but customers, especially the high expectations / nerd crowd, have grown incredibly tired of the industry trend that after product takeoff, sales/VC demand takes over and their (valuable) feedback is outright ignored. Just look how fucked up Twitter became over the years, the latest UI change is just another part of a string of shitload of management failures.

What this means: do not be sure this strategy will work out because customers have learned from other startups in history.

Re: Focus on the high-expectation customer

#6
post #2

Writers: stop being so damned bossy. The imperative title has had its run in the fussy etiquette pieces that so often pass as 'opinion' in newspapers. It wasn't any good there, and doesn't merit wider adoption.

> Writers: stop being so damned bossy.

Yes.

The article itself is very slightly more nuanced than its title, but it still describes a very targeted range of user ('hipster', 'geek'), that doesn't include 'employee' and 'tourist', for example.

> The imperative title has had its run in the fussy etiquette pieces

I agree that it is important to understand possible users, but the specific imperative of this title is not appropriate given the range of all the different types of possible users that developers may need to support.

Re: Focus on the high-expectation customer

#7
Hallelujah! Maybe this will put a dent in the current dumbification trend of all apps/UIs etc. that's probably due to 'designing for the lowest common denominator'.

Hint: any app/tool/etc. that's "designed for the average user", will only help its user be(come) average and below average!

Now try imagining selling a product with the slogan "XYZ - Helping you stay mediocre, and even drop below the average! Use us every day, keep greatness away! ...if you're doing data-driven-product-design targeting the "average user", you're building just such a product!

Re: Focus on the high-expectation customer

#9
post #2

Writers: stop being so damned bossy. The imperative title has had its run in the fussy etiquette pieces that so often pass as 'opinion' in newspapers. It wasn't any good there, and doesn't merit wider adoption.

> Writers: stop being so damned bossy.

My personal pet peeve: titles going "Why you should do X".

Re: Focus on the high-expectation customer

#10
post #2

Writers: stop being so damned bossy. The imperative title has had its run in the fussy etiquette pieces that so often pass as 'opinion' in newspapers. It wasn't any good there, and doesn't merit wider adoption.

> Writers: stop being so damned bossy.

This also holds for commenters :)

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