
Forget feature requests (2005) - prakash
http://www.37signals.com/svn/archives2/getting_real_forget_feature_requests.php
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jwr
Incidentally, when my company was looking for a project management & issue
tracking solution, we looked very closely at Basecamp.

Then we noticed that their approach to life is "we know best what's good for
you", which wasn't true in our case.

And then we started paying Fog Creek for FogBugz.

37signals' attitude was a factor in our decision -- so I'd advise people to
take their ramblings with a grain of salt.

~~~
antidaily
A function of their success is not caring about potential customers like you.
Sorry, but it is.

~~~
axod
You can't please everyone all the time, and trying to implement every feature
isn't always feasible.

But I think you should at least try hard to solve peoples desires - explain
why the feature would be a bad idea, or suggest a better alternative, or offer
a custom solution which might cost them more money etc etc

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chops
Despite this post being 3-4 years old, this remains good advice. You can't
please everyone, and you can't implement every feature that every user thinks
they'd want for their one specific situation. Instead you take all those
requests and let them sit in the subconscious. As the article said, the ones
people REALLY need will bubble to the surface again and again.

It's also commonly said that the customer doesn't REALLY know what they want
or need. It's up to you to take their requirements and apply your expertise to
the situation giving them the solution they need, rather than the solution
they may be asking for.

~~~
ibsulon
That presumes you know more about the domain than the customer. Frankly, I
find this an arrogant position for many places.

