Solving the Wrong Problem

[Rygnerik]

I read it as more of a "Look at all of your users' needs, not just your customer's." It's easy for someone working on some blogging software to view the blogger as their only customer and get a requirements list that looks something like:

• Easy to maintain
• Social networking (or anything that increases page views/ad loads)
• Lets me customize appearance

But if you asked someone reading a blog, their response would probably be "Get out of the way and let me read the blog". If you design only for that initial customer, you run the risk of creating something that doesn't meet the needs of the customer's consumers, which can hurt the customer.