Working backwards from the customer isn't necessarily giving the customer what t... | Hacker News

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jimfl on Aug 31, 2011 | parent | context | favorite | on: How Steve Jobs handles trolls (WWDC 1997)

Working backwards from the customer isn't necessarily giving the customer what they're asking you for, but defining a product which will, in fact make something easier, more fun, or scratch an itch to the extent that they will give you money and convince their friends to do the same.

ssharp on Aug 31, 2011 [–]

Exactly. Customer outcomes don't have to be described or defined directly by the customer.

wallflower on Aug 31, 2011 | [–]

And you have that famous quote from Henry Ford that may or may not have been spoken by him:

"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses."

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/08/henry_ford_never_said_the_fa...

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