Having just gone through 9 months of rapid iteration on a product, I've learned so much, both about building good products and about accepting (or not) feedback.
Can't wait to see what Light Table brings to the...um...table.
Haters, no. Critics, yes. Anyone who asks an interesting question or poses an interesting problem shouldn't be ignored completely as long as it seems relevant to what the creator is trying to do. Judging by the timeliness of this post however it seems like he's doing a fine job of that.
Because when they make a persuasive argument, it forces you to work harder. To confront the issues that other people are bringing up. If you don't want that then you can make software just for yourself. Otherwise it's best to keep an open ear, even if the voices do nothing to change your direction.
Criticism is no science, and sure they might not be making the same thing as you but that doesn't mean they don't have anything valuable to say about it. You could be a brilliant programmer but absolutely no imagination when it comes to UX, in which case a little user criticism would go a long way and may even bleed a little into the program architecture.
I'm not arguing that criticism isn't valuable, I'm just arguing that it isn't valuable when you are still in the early stages of building your idea. Build it based on what you think it should be, see if people use it, and then accept feedback.
The people criticizing you, especially this early, are obviously not your customer.
Comments
Don't worry about the haters, just keep working.
Having just gone through 9 months of rapid iteration on a product, I've learned so much, both about building good products and about accepting (or not) feedback.
Can't wait to see what Light Table brings to the...um...table.
Haters, no. Critics, yes. Anyone who asks an interesting question or poses an interesting problem shouldn't be ignored completely as long as it seems relevant to what the creator is trying to do. Judging by the timeliness of this post however it seems like he's doing a fine job of that.
Why shouldn't they be ignored?
It's easy to be a critic, much more difficult to put your money where your mouth is.
Because when they make a persuasive argument, it forces you to work harder. To confront the issues that other people are bringing up. If you don't want that then you can make software just for yourself. Otherwise it's best to keep an open ear, even if the voices do nothing to change your direction.
Criticism is no science, and sure they might not be making the same thing as you but that doesn't mean they don't have anything valuable to say about it. You could be a brilliant programmer but absolutely no imagination when it comes to UX, in which case a little user criticism would go a long way and may even bleed a little into the program architecture.
I'm not arguing that criticism isn't valuable, I'm just arguing that it isn't valuable when you are still in the early stages of building your idea. Build it based on what you think it should be, see if people use it, and then accept feedback.
The people criticizing you, especially this early, are obviously not your customer.