[untitled]
8 comments
Is that actually an "issue"?
Most of the time when I talk to FOSS developers and say things like "if you do X, you will get a lot more users", their response is usually "popularity is not a project goal."
I feel like there's probably a reason that it should be, due to some unintentional positive side-effects, but I'm not clever enough to come up with any convincing reasons to tell them they're "wrong."
Most of the time when I talk to FOSS developers and say things like "if you do X, you will get a lot more users", their response is usually "popularity is not a project goal."
I feel like there's probably a reason that it should be, due to some unintentional positive side-effects, but I'm not clever enough to come up with any convincing reasons to tell them they're "wrong."
Oh I'm sure that's the case for some software, but I assume the quote only applies to folks who do in fact want lots of users of their app.
And 90% of unsourced statistic-based claims are made up on the spot.
This is a bad tweet that doesn't even cite a single cheery-picked example.
source: trust me bro
But seriously. I buy a lot of SaaS software. None of it is easy to use. Nor should it be. It's doing extremely complicated and sophisticated tasks. It's used by thousands of companies ranging from SMBs to muli hundred billion dollar market cap conglomerates.
But seriously. I buy a lot of SaaS software. None of it is easy to use. Nor should it be. It's doing extremely complicated and sophisticated tasks. It's used by thousands of companies ranging from SMBs to muli hundred billion dollar market cap conglomerates.
I had this discussion with the head of the company I'm at recently.
Some of our software has succeed by being easy to use, encapsulating business rules so the client doesn't have to worry them, that kind of thing. All good, we make money there.
However, we had a project that ultimately was less successful because we tried to make something EASIER that was simply not easy at the core. I don't want to get into details but ultimately we took a job originally done by folks with big spreadsheets and those folks had lots of domain knowledge ... and we tried to make it a job anyone could do.
IMO, we largely failed, as we brought on new customers we realized there were assumptions about every dang column and everyone they exchanged this spreadsheet with thought different things and had different rules and some used some fields some not and ...
I realized this was a complex task immediately and you just couldn't hide that. In fact it was better to just give them a massive spreadsheet interface and let them go hog wild or just offer to have our own internal people do the job for them.
Some stuff is just complex.
Some of our software has succeed by being easy to use, encapsulating business rules so the client doesn't have to worry them, that kind of thing. All good, we make money there.
However, we had a project that ultimately was less successful because we tried to make something EASIER that was simply not easy at the core. I don't want to get into details but ultimately we took a job originally done by folks with big spreadsheets and those folks had lots of domain knowledge ... and we tried to make it a job anyone could do.
IMO, we largely failed, as we brought on new customers we realized there were assumptions about every dang column and everyone they exchanged this spreadsheet with thought different things and had different rules and some used some fields some not and ...
I realized this was a complex task immediately and you just couldn't hide that. In fact it was better to just give them a massive spreadsheet interface and let them go hog wild or just offer to have our own internal people do the job for them.
Some stuff is just complex.
So, it will be two users now!
I always assumed the issue for most apps is getting a critical mass of users in the first place / offering something people want to keep using is the first and foremost challenge.
Maybe after that ease of use matters, maybe ...