Semantics: Teaching Your Users What They Really Need

Users rarely know what they want. And, when you ask them, they rarely describe interesting problems. And, I'm sorry, but that can make development just plain boring. In an ideal world, we'd all have users who really understood the power of technology and what we can do in code, but that never seems to happen. The good news is, with a little help, you can still steer your users down new and more interesting paths. In this session, I'll examine a series of techniques that look at how users request features and how you can map those requests to a series of "semantic patterns" that represent what the users is really asking for. By introducing some helpful hints and suggestions, you'll be able to guide your user down the correct path. I'll introduce you to some handy techniques that will allow you to quickly shoot down bad ideas without ever humiliating your user. Ultimately, over time, your user will be able to more easily yield to your technical expertise and end up with the system you always knew they needed.