Raaz Herzberg
You Are Not Your User
Inspired by Raaz Herzberg episode
Raaz Herzberg: most dangerous product person says 'I would never use this' as if their opinion trumps data. Your toddler is not you.
Raaz at Snap had a rule: don't kill features just because YOU don't get them. Your taste is one data point. Build what users love, even if it makes you cringe.
Parenting version: Your toddler is not a tiny you with poor impulse control. They're a completely different person who happens to live in your house and scream about cup colors.
You think soft play is a nightmare. Too loud. Too many germs. Too much... everything. They think it's the greatest place on earth. You'd pay money to never go. They'd live there if you let them.
The blue cup versus the red cup isn't about cups. It's about the fact that what matters to them has NOTHING to do with what matters to you. You find their passions baffling. They find yours boring.
Stop trying to understand why they want what they want. Just accept that you're building product for a user whose brain you'll never crack.
