The Best Improvements to a System Come From the People Who Use It

The best improvements to any system come from its customers.

There’s an interesting side to development. When you build a system, it’s easy to overlook how it will actually be used in real life.

Systems mimic processes

Processes don’t happen all at once. There are steps, each with its own inputs and outputs, and in each step there are rules to follow. Receiving stock, selling, closing the day: each has its own rules, and in a business they matter.

Because I build customised systems, those rules vary from client to client.

I test it. Customers live in it.

I test everything, using the context I have, the rules that generally apply and the rules clients give me. But my usage is often different from how customers actually use it. They use the system in a real environment, under real pressure, with their business context in mind and their own way of doing things, including the shortcuts nobody planned for.

Then the honeymoon ends

As customers get used to a system, it becomes their baseline. The system is simply how they do things now, and the comparison with before disappears. Once the honeymoon phase ends, the system becomes the norm.

What happens then? Customers start looking for ways the system could make life even easier. That’s the most valuable feedback a system ever gets.

That’s when the type of system matters

A generic system is often a solid place to start. But at this point it can limit you. Once the system is your normal, being a small client usually means your requests won’t be prioritised, and a reseller often has no ability to change the product at all.

With a customised system, your suggestions are added and the system grows with your requirements. Your own feedback makes the product better, and if a feature is specific to you, the benefit comes straight to you.

One client’s idea, everyone’s improvement

I also like to share ideas across the whole system. If a client suggests a feature that’s useful to others, I build it for everyone. Only the idea is shared: each client’s data, and anything specific to their business, stays theirs. More clients means more feedback and more ideas, which benefits those same clients. It’s how One Click POS has grown.

What’s the one feature your current system is missing?