Solve Real Customer Problems › Make Great Software with Chris & Gina

Customers will lie to you. They aren’t being cruel. They just don’t want to hurt your feelings. In this episode, Chris and Gina take on a principle that sounds obvious and is hard to practice: solve a real customer problem. Chris opens with an advanced search interface he helped build early in his career. It was well designed, well engineered and powerful, and almost nobody used it. Gina tells the story of ThinkUp, the startup she shut down even after a thousand people signed up to pay before launch. Along the way they cover why enthusiasm isn’t commitment, painkillers versus vitamins, what Google Wave got wrong and what it left behind, why you should sit next to your users and watch them work, and why you should ship before it’s done. Mentioned: The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick, Google Wave, Twitter at SXSW 2007, the original iPhone, Ramp. Make Great Software is produced in New York City by Chris & Gina. Find out more at chrisandgina.co. -- 0:00 Cold open: The advanced search nobody used 3:49 Customers will lie to you 6:44 AI agents can't really listen 8:54 1,000 paying customers weren't enough 14:07 Painkillers, not vitamins 16:41 Google Wave: A technical triumph without a problem 20:38 Prototype with what you have 22:55 Build at the edges 23:13 Sit with your users 26:12 Ship it before it's done 31:46 Fix what's already bad 33:13 And now for something completely different