I work on emergency software and we get the opportunity as developers to do “ride alongs” with firefighters and police officers. They’re pretty open with their feelings about the software. Riding along with then as they do their jobs while using software you wrote gives you a different perspective of the criticality of it.
Yes, very much this. I always found that it was critical for me to walk/live/breathe with my users to design the best software for them.
Whether it's shadowing the parts warehouse guys while they do inventory counts in a supply chain management system or getting to know the chief compliance officer and chief counsel while designing a regulatory system for them that's mandated by the SEC, their experience as human beings relayed to me as users of my software was invaluable.
It's all about the empathy one has for one's users and how you use that information to take care of them. They will love you if you are successful in doing that.
