Web App Goal #2: Don’t Try to Change the World
If your first goal when building web applications is ‘Change the World’. Stop, take a deep breath and start again. On your blog, wiki or whiteboard, write:
“We are not trying to change the world, we are trying to give users something they need/love/want.”
or
“We are not trying to change the world, we are trying to make more money than we spend.”
Probably most of the products I have worked on have been in the ‘Change the World’ category. They are over burdened with features, confusing to users, really difficult to maintain and often fail to ship at all.
Why do we do this to ourselves when there are plenty of un-built, simple products that can be built and released in a few months and give users exactly what they need/love/want?
Focus on a known use-case, keep it simple and release as soon as possible to test against real people.
Oh, and I also agree with Web App Goal #1 .
Filed under Software Development, Stuff I'm Working On, Tips |One Response to “Web App Goal #2: Don’t Try to Change the World”
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I am a proud co-founder of
I didn’t mean “Own the world” or “Control the world”
Creating value, making people happy, being useful - that is changing the world.
My tennis court example works for that. It made my life better, and in that way changed the world.
Subtly but surely.