I am going to get slightly philosophical and maybe it will illustrate the topic better/differently.
People have functions Products serve functions People rarely think about these functions, they just do them. Therefore asking people about these functions rarely gives you the right answer, because people don't think about them. But we ask people for other reasons: For example, you need to make sure that your definition of their environment corresponds with their definition of their environment, so that you are both on the same wavelength and your deductions are not based on assumed facts. So, whichever test you use, understand what you are learning from that test and the relevance. Now put all these famous quotes in context and you will understand that they all listen to their target market, they just do it different. When something like "You have to listen to your customers" becomes fashionable, people tend to use it at inappropriate times. There is a correct place and time for everything and there is more than one way of "listening". Addition: The Evolution of Functions & Products What are functions? Functions are things you do everyday: You go to work, you work on a PC, you write with a pen, etc. It is everything that you do. What are products? Products are everything that you use to complete those functions: A car to drive to work, a Dual Core PC to do work on, a Parker to write with, etc. In general, we do functions and we have to get them done. Any product that improves the time it takes to get things done is a plus and if it does it better, it is another plus. Now the problem with getting things done is that we suddenly have more time available, but that leads to us adding more functions and the cycle continues. Example: Compare your original PC with your current one. How fast was the original and how many things did you do with it? How fast is the new one and how much are you doing with it now? Yet, we still complain that our current PC's are slow when we want to get things done, when it is probably 20 times faster than our original PC. Why is that? ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
