My friend Matt has a warning for trend setting, popular web application developers who forget the people that got them there: the users.
...you're playing in a land of developers, get used to it. Many of us could create the exact same products you're making, and do it just as well. What is currently setting you ahead of the pack is your ability to come up with the idea to begin with NOT your ability to build the product or even the decisions to include or exclude particular features.
As a web developer myself, I know how hard it is to put yourself in the user's shoes. However, you have to take every complaint seriously - there's just too many people who will ditch you without complaining. And whatever you do, for God's sake don't piss them off by publicly making fun of their feedback.
It's amazing how many developers think they're entitled to build the application they think the customer needs, not the one want. Although Matt and I have disagreed from time to time about how exactly to handle users' comments, I don't think there's any doubt on the profound inadvisability of insulting your users for providing feedback you depend on. It's said that on the internet, nobody knows you're an asshole... unless you build your business around being one.
UPDATES
- This particular episode is getting some attention in the blogosphere. Just what the doctor ordered!
- Looks like Matt got a response from the founder of the offending company. He's in defense mode still when he should really be in damage control mode. It's time to drop the self-righteousness and disingenuous innocence ("we appreciate everybody's feedback") and simply apologize. That's what you do when you offend people.
- Here's a great example of the right attitude:
Do you have advice or insights for other people who are trying to create their own Web 2.0 projects?
Conduct your education in public. Love your users. Use gradients in moderation. Focus on the task and hand and get it launched. Ignore buzzwords. Meetings are distractions. Never be vaporware. Have fun. "Don't fall in love with the autograph." Be free.
It's quite a testament to the promise of technology that attitude can be just as much a part of a successful product as ideas, talent, and elbow grease.
Incidentally, Etsy is probably the most beautiful, well designed Web 2.0 app I've seen. My wife has been pretty much obsessed with it lately, and she's starting to sell some stuff through it (her work was featured on the front page recently). It's kind of wierd to see her getting into bulletin board politics, blogging, and other things that she resisted for so long, but I can totally see why she loves this site. I'd like to look further into Etsy at some future point; right now I'm mostly looking over her shoulder.
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