Delivering software value

A straining relationship

Thanks to my twenty+ years of experience first as a developer and then as an architect, I have gained this valuable insight:

“…From the perspective of software development, one of the most common misunderstandings is that technical excellence, in itself, represents value…”

As developers, architects, team leaders, we often strive in obtaining the best practices, which often are just the latest trendy articles from who knows who blog, and that delivering something based on our own beliefs will be of value to the customers.

Well, guess what? It is not. Value, for our customers, be them the user of a website or the corporate drone of a Fortune 500 company, is what let them work in a simple and intuitive way, completing workflows requested to them without the need to be a technical savy user.

A user does not care about docker, kubernetes, java, react or whatever comes to mind - he/she only wants to use the software for the task assigned to him/her, and, at the proper time, lock the computer and move on for dinner, picking up the kids, or whatever he/she wants to do. A user only wants to use a system that simplifies his/her activities and execution times, and being more efficient on the job.

Users don’t care about your precisely crafted and styled web component, your single page application, adherence to microservices standards, or whatever is the latest discussion du jour. The only value they see in your work is the way your work allows them to do what is needed to close the task.

And often we (developers) tend to think that we know better: we know what is better for them, be it the composition of the page, or absurd workflows and limitations for the users.

Your software is not yours. Is for who uses it. Remember it.

Software is your product, but it should arise from listening to and deeply understanding the user and their work experience. In a sense, it is a mysterious and technically complex object, yet it must reach its user in the most intuitive and straightforward way possible.

The developer is like a tailor who must craft a custom-made suit that is perfect for the client, not for the extraordinary artisan. With care, skill, and patience, they must create something not centered on themselves but on the needs of the person in front of them!