It's about the user, stupid.
Developers like to complain. Seems like a prerequisite of the trade. “This doesn’t work right” “That is too hard to implement” “Why did they do it that way?” Yes… complain they do – ok we do...
But the complaining is often the canary-in-the-coalmine-effect that something could be just a little bit easier, just a little more straight-forward, or g0d forbid, documented! While that is often the case, developers need to get over how hard things are and simply allot for the extra time things are going to take. And if it’s worth the effort, then just take the time.
Case in point – Microsoft Office 2003 Smart Documents, er…uh Expansion Packs, oh the programmable task pane thingee… or whatever it is to you. Bottom line is that they are cumbersome to put together and hell to debug; doesn’t help that it the split between “should I write it in managed vs. COM” causes confusion and support nightmares...
BUT!!!!!
… and I emphasis here, it is not about how hairy the implementation is, it is about the results. When you see a smart document solution in its destination; coming to life in the task pane of some overjoyed user who now can get something done faster/easier, freed up of precious time better spent on responding to the glut of email and other corporate rhetoric, you realize that it is not about you. It is about the user.
Yup. We sometimes lose focus of that. We do what we do because they need us to (and we need the money ;) So if things are broken, fix them. Silly? Find workarounds. Take to long? Prove and justify the concept. Because after all…. it’s about the user, stupid.
(P.S. Developers, don’t be offended about the title stupid used in the posting above. It does not represent the opinion of the editor, sponsor or host of this content. In fact, it refers more directly to the author.
He – the author – is currently working on an NDA project with very large software vendor. The project/product that he is working on has a very complex implementation cycle that appears yield relatively minor results; or so it would appear at first glance. However, when he finally got the implementation in an operational state, the sweat and tears were replaced with glee for users everywhere who will benefit from the toils of another whiny developer.
As soon as it becomes public domain knowledge and the NDA is lifted, he will share his insights freely.
– editor)