When Designing Systems, Think Like the Customers

by Pamela Hollington

My niece's birthday was last month, and she asked for a set of seat covers for her new car. This didn't seem like too much to ask. I went to the local outlet, which is just minutes from my house, and found the exact item she wanted. The only problem was that the store had just one cover in stock and I needed two. Being an optimist, I purchased the one seat cover, thinking that I could easily locate another one. After searching from store to store, however, I found that only one chain was carrying this specific model -- the chain I had purchased the first one from.