Let’s say you are building an application for a general audience, such as teachers. Well, in order for your software to be successful, you should find out what teacher’s like, as well as what they’re used to. Or should you? Often a client (or audience) has a massive impact on business decisions. And to play it safe, maybe that’s how it should be. But as you probably know, sometimes the client/audience isn’t as tech savvy as you would like, or maybe even expect. This can make things difficult.
An honest assumption might be most teachers aren’t keeping up with the latest technology. While you have insight into what’s better, they might not “get it.” Yet. Just like email, many of the so-called current trends are here for the long haul, too. Being the web specialist that you are, do you put it on them anyway? Or do you hear them out on things like “Why would I want to use email?” or now “Why would I ‘tag’ when I can search?” When is it alright to do what’s best in your own eyes? Those who get it, get it; those who don’t, eventually will. Is it fair to take on this type of attitude when developing? How much should you worry about your audience understanding your cutting edge application? If passion is a large part of making a good product or service, it seems like you should build what you want and worry about the audience later. Then again, that can come off as immature.
The way to success is to make something different. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel – new ideas, new methods and new technologies are what drive the web today. But I’m never really sure how far you should take it, before it starts to alter the clarity of its purpose. I guess you could always refine your audience to only the “tech savvy teachers,” but then you might have less users. Where do you draw the line? Anyway, I was just thinking about a recent situation and wondering how/when you go with what YOU think is best vs. the others involved, generally speaking.