Visualize History

Great software companies make software that fits their business.  While there may be counterexamples, in general software companies can best address categories into which they fit.  Microsoft develops fantastic software for enterprise, and it is an enterprise.  Facebook started as a fantastic service for college students, and at the time was developed by a college student.  FogCreek makes fantastic bug tracking software because the developers have spent much of their lifetime using bug tracking software.  37signals, a company of 10 people, makes great web apps for small business.

Of course that seems intuitive.  Understanding a project’s requirements will lead to a better project.  I don’t think anyone disagrees with that.  In software, the process can be more formal, for example “dogfooding” in software means that a company uses its own software.  What better way for Microsoft to find problems in Outlook than by having its 90,000+ employees use it every single day?

Unfortunately for Visualize History, I, the developer, am not the target audience.  As I picture things now, the site is aimed at teachers of history.  I am not  a teacher of history, and I don’t know what they require, how they prioritize potential features and what they think is silly.  What am I to do?

There are solutions.  I have, for example, been reading a lot of blogs by teachers recently.  I used to work at a newspaper called Edweek and have been in sporadic contact with my former coworkers there.  I remember my teachers and I try to put myself in their shoes.

So that’s the plan, for now.  We will see how it goes.