What's missing is real world experience. The engineers never actually watch the users work. They don't know about the constant interruptions from coworkers or hear the phone calls from customers. They don't see the sticky notes on the monitor or the stacks of papers on the desk. This is the actual environment where the software will be used. The software does what it needs to but adds stress to the workers life. Good software should reduce stress.
Being aware of what people actually do is just as important in areas other than software development. Marketing people seem to have lost the understanding of people with time constraints. I recently went looking for a product that would organize a specific business process. There are hundreds of companies offering similar solutions. The prices range from free to hundreds of thousands of dollars. My time was limited so if I couldn't find the price within 5 minutes I moved to the next vendors' site. I eliminated other companies if it took too long to find what the product does.
It is a puzzle to me why many companies spend so much effort to tell me how there product is made and so little of how it will benefit me. For example, here are the four top items from a web site selling a product I think I need.
- ProductX is created by professionals for professionals.
- ProductX utilizes the latest Microsoft .NET technology and the latest hardware available from Dell.
- ProductX is easy to use. The system is carefully designed to make its user interface as intuitive and convenient as possible. No training required, you may start use it immediately.
- ProductX is reliable. It has lightning-fast response and 99.9% uptime.
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