Know Your Users
Posted by Johan Cyprich on 10 Jan 2007 | Tagged as: Programming
Most software developers dream of writing a program which will bring them riches. The more ambitious ones have already found the luxury home on beach front property they’ll be eventually owning. Unfortunately, many programs that are created do not succeed.
One reason for failure is the way the software is built. Eager programmers would like to start writing code soon after their revolutionary idea is thought of. While this approach works quite well for writing scripts and other small programs, it falls apart when trying to create large applications.
After it is determined what your software will do, the next thing to decide is who will be using it. The tendency is to assume, for example, that your market is the entire 650 million strong Windows community. Even if 1% of them buy your product, you will be rich enough to retire early.
Unless your writing an operating system, its highly unlikely that every computer user in the world will need your software. Its also not a good idea writing software for the general population unless you have Microsoft’s marketing budget. To build a successful application, you need to focus on what it will do and who will be using it.
For example, software for controlling inventory will likely be used by managers in a corporate environment, while an adventure game will probably be played mainly by college students. If the marketing for an adventure game targets a middle manager, it will not succeed. Your software needs to solve a specific problem for a group of people confronted by that problem. If you can show someone how their life can be made easier with your application, you’ve made a sale.
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