[Editor's Note] Is it a conflict for developers to meet user needs and adhere to their own product concepts? On Weibo, the joke about Steve Jobs, "Fuck you numb, get rid of your numbness, love to buy or not!" is widely circulated. This article presents its own point of view: listen to users, but take control of the rhythm, goals, and flow of the entire work.
As a software developer, your job is much more than just writing code. And a few more things that are within your purview:
- Estimated duty cycle
- Understand the functionality of software you haven't written
- simplify complex problems
- Break complex problems into smaller ones
- Adjust the code to make room for iteration
- Find and fix bugs
- The above questions are done in collaboration with other members
If you are interacting directly with your users, there are more suggestions:
- Translate user requirements into improvement plans;
- Explain in simple language and convey complex meaning to users in a simple way;
- Clarify every unresolved problem.
But on top of these responsibilities, the most important thing is to set goals based on understanding your target users.
Setting goals means maintaining constant control over the rhythm and flow of your work to keep your work going. This means making risk predictions and letting users know about potential risks, so as not to be caught off guard when risks come, which requires setting a series of rules and processes.
When done right, having or not setting goals can in some cases lead to very different outcomes between suffering and enjoying work.
As a developer, you are a craftsman, you can use any tool area to create, and you cannot let other people's expectations override your creative freedom. You have to take control of the creative process yourself.
If you allow the user's will to override your creation, the following results are likely:
- Your users will "think" when the work should be done, and at that time you may only be able to come up with half-finished products and fail to meet user expectations;
- If your work doesn’t go as expected by users, they will feel frustrated and lose confidence;
- User expectations force you to do things that you don't agree with.
Of course, the ideal situation is that users will respect the goals you set every time, but this situation is rare. In short, always remember: in the software development process, you are the one who decides what to achieve and when.