#152 – Path to End Users

In large organizations, it can be difficult for Developers to get access to end users. We can’t just make many of these middlemen go away since many of them were hired for being exactly that, but we can educate them on why it’s important to include Developers when talking to end users.

If Developers talk directly with end users regularly, they’ll get a much better understanding of the end users’ needs, work processes and preferences than if there are several proxies in-between. Building up this empathy and awareness of end users will, eventually, lead to Developers being able to challenge the scope and take better product decisions because they simply just know more about the context to which they’re delivering.

If the end users need some convincing buy in on having to spend time with the Developers (they’re usually more than happy to do it), just promise them that it’ll help increase the awesomeness of the product and, thus, their everyday lives.