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It's not that 37signals writes software for themselves and no one else: they write it for themselves and people like them. Their thinking is that they know the

It's not that 37signals writes software for themselves and no one else: they write it for themselves and people like them. Their thinking is that they know themselves and what they want, so they seek to satisfy their needs. If they tried to satisfy other people's needs – needs they don't have or understand – how will they know how to succeed? Companies do that, yes. Apple is doing it by adding enterprise features to the iPhone – I'm not sure Apple gets the enterprise culture, and Apple employees probably don't use Microsoft Entourage, but they're adding enterprise features to satisfy a customer that isn't them. 37signals has chosen not to do that. And I think that's a choice they can make. I also don't find anything inherently wrong with arrogance. Norman's article seems contradictory. He says at the beginning that simplicity is bad, but says customers complain about complexity, then he highlights Southwest Airlines refusal to add requested features as a good thing – but 37signals is bad because they don't add requested features. I love my Backpack. I've enjoyed using Writeboard in the past. Ironically, I feel like Norman's saying I'm dumb for being satisfied with these tools. Norman's post reminds me of designers complaining about the success of MySpace. "It's so poorly designed, it's success must be a fluke! If people only saw a well designed option they would abandon MySpace." Here Norman is saying 37signals doesn't deserve success because they aren't doing things the way he's familiar with.

ibsulon 19y ago
They did, once Facebook allowed open registration.
webwright 19y ago
"It's not that 37signals writes software for themselves and no one else: they write it for themselves and people like them." I don't think that's true. I think the correct statement is: "It's not that 37signals writes software for themselves and no one else: they write it for themselves and people WHO HAPPEN TO BE like them." There's a difference. I think you are utterly misunderstanding Norman. He's not saying you're dumb for using those tools-- he's saying that 37s is dumb for not trying to understand and adapt to their customers. (Incidentally, is exactly what Apple is doing with the SDK and Enterprise features) Because of their arrogance, they are leaving money, customers, and customer happiness "on the table". No harm in that-- they're rich and have enough happy customers...
- bouncingsoul 19y ago
  Adapt to what customers? People like Norman? The advanced customers 37signals isn't trying to serve? You assume that trying to please a completely different type of customer doesn't alienate your current customers. What if Apple added half the features of Final Cut Pro to the next iMovie, or if Microsoft made Windows Movie Maker nearly as complicated as Adobe Premiere? The advanced video editors would rejoice, but the people with simpler needs would be left out in the cold or have to wade through all the new modes and settings they didn't have to worry about before. The old users would be less satisfied. And the pledged new users would likely still be unsatisfied because they're expects and eventually push the limits of whatever software they choose to use. And don't you think 37signals would have to raise their price if they started making their software more "advanced"? It's like complaining that an apartment complex should radically improve their apartments with tiled kitchen areas, more bedrooms, and individual laundry rooms – because that's what you want. But that apartment complex may just be trying to serve people looking for moderately priced places to live.

ibsulon 19y ago

They did, once Facebook allowed open registration.

webwright 19y ago

"It's not that 37signals writes software for themselves and no one else: they write it for themselves and people like them." I don't think that's true. I think the correct statement is: "It's not that 37signals writes software for themselves and no one else: they write it for themselves and people WHO HAPPEN TO BE like them." There's a difference. I think you are utterly misunderstanding Norman. He's not saying you're dumb for using those tools-- he's saying that 37s is dumb for not trying to understand and adapt to their customers. (Incidentally, is exactly what Apple is doing with the SDK and Enterprise features) Because of their arrogance, they are leaving money, customers, and customer happiness "on the table". No harm in that-- they're rich and have enough happy customers...

bouncingsoul 19y ago
Adapt to what customers? People like Norman? The advanced customers 37signals isn't trying to serve? You assume that trying to please a completely different type of customer doesn't alienate your current customers. What if Apple added half the features of Final Cut Pro to the next iMovie, or if Microsoft made Windows Movie Maker nearly as complicated as Adobe Premiere? The advanced video editors would rejoice, but the people with simpler needs would be left out in the cold or have to wade through all the new modes and settings they didn't have to worry about before. The old users would be less satisfied. And the pledged new users would likely still be unsatisfied because they're expects and eventually push the limits of whatever software they choose to use. And don't you think 37signals would have to raise their price if they started making their software more "advanced"? It's like complaining that an apartment complex should radically improve their apartments with tiled kitchen areas, more bedrooms, and individual laundry rooms – because that's what you want. But that apartment complex may just be trying to serve people looking for moderately priced places to live.