Re: Make what user wants?

[rickprice@earthlink.net (Rick Price)]

The users may not know what they want want, but they do know what they
do, the processes they use and the results they need.  It is our job
to create (with input from the users / SMEs / clients / etc) an
application with an interface that provides an intuitive way to
accomplish the tasks that make up the processes and give them the
results they need.  Otherwise a few kids with Visual Basic could put
us all out of a job.

We give them what they want after we help them realize what is
posible.

On Wed, 17 Sep 1997 09:41:56 +0100, Bert Bril <bert@dgb.nl> wrote:

>Ell wrote:
>> You are seriously delusional if you do not realize that _in general_
>> people know what they want.  Not that it's always best for them, but
>> generally they do know what they want/desire.
>> 
>
>I fully agree with this. In the environment that I work in, users most
>often do know what they want. But sometimes you can show them all of the
>consequences and then they may want something else.
>
>IMO, this is one of the most common sources of problems in software
>development: the communication should be two-way. The problem can be on
>either side: the engineer just listens a bit and then goes off to create
>unwanted stuff, the user is not interested and doesn't want to think
>together about solutions.
>
>I'm don't know whether this is valid in all environments.
>
>
>[snip]
>> The pragmatists deny there is objective truth.  They want to bend things
>> to what _they_ see, want, or desire.
>
>But this is a strange and needless twist in your arguments. The fact
>that I believe there is no objective truth outside abstract/logical
>systems does not mean I bend things to what I want. I am also able to
>create models of the world that work best for the user.
>
>
>Bert
>
>-- de Groot - Bril Earth Sciences B.V.
>-- Boulevard 1945 - 24, 7511 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
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