(2005-09-17) Sierra Fried Real Needs

Kathy Sierra and Jason Fried on deciding what customers really want. Clayton Christensen, Core Transformation, etc.

• this is NOT about giving them simply what we know is good for them but that they really don't want, because they probably won't stick around. This is about giving them what they really DO want... but simply don't realize it because they had no way to imagine it. So maybe the key is to listen not only to what users say, but more importantly to what is motivating what they say.

Update: Ken Norton applies this to some thinking about different groups along the Adoption Life Cycle. You talk to people who represent a heterogeneous cross-section of your target population, consider their built-in biases and perspectives and triangulate from there. In my experience, I've found it helpful to talk to users who represent the leading, middle and trailing adoption populations in my market as well as influential observers.