When I was a programmer at a non software company I would frequently sit with the users and watch how they used the existing software or how they did a task tha

When I was a programmer at a non software company I would frequently sit with the users and watch how they used the existing software or how they did a task that we were considering creating software to help with. It was a great way to make a useful product right away rather than get back and lot of negative feedback about how it doesn't do what they need or expect if the software was written without that insight.