I came across this article by Scott Watermasysk today. His fifth and sixth point got me thinking. Scott said

5. Realize that to more than 99.9% of the worlds population, code/technology are simply a means to an end. Software solves problems. The world really doesn’t care how or why it works.

My initial reaction was that maybe that applies to the stuff he writes, but it surely couldn’t apply to the pearls that I produce.

Alas, I fear that he is right. Correction, I know that he is right. Even my wife, who is supposed to be loving, caring and supportive, starts yawing and nodding off when I explain how I spent my day. She has no interest in my latest in my latest and greatest polymorphic grarbling interface. And if my dear wife doesn’t care, why would anyone else?

6. When you write software, in most cases, you are not the typical end user. Your users are not looking for a challenge. For most, there are a million other things they would rather be doing than using your application.

So often we assume that our users will love the stuff we produce. But they don’t want to use it. They would rather be at the beach or the golf course or the pub. Anywhere but sitting in front of a computer screen using our application.

Humbling, isn’t it?