A Taste of My Own Medicine
Yesterday, I went to get a haircut. I've been going to the same place for several years now, close to home and cheap. I don't care much about what my hair looks like, as long as it is not downright offensive.
Haircutting is magic to me. Not in the sense that it is very interesting, more in the sense that it is a complete mystery to me how they translate my vague instructions ("Really short in the back and on the sides, quite short on top and less short in front") into what I mean. For years, this place has cut my hair like I want it, with only the vaguest of descriptions of what I want.
Yesterday was different. The woman who cut my hair was a new person, and she was different. She started out by asking me whether I wanted my hair cut with scissors or the electric razor. I answered "Scissors!", instead of the more honest "Why are you asking me- you're the hairdresser?". This meant, by some line of reasoning beyond me, that my hair would have to be washed before she cut it. OK. She then started cutting, and after a long time, she woke me up to ask me what I thought. This has always been the part where I politely claim to be happy, not wanting to admit that I don't care, as long as it looks like I got a haircut. But I looked at myself in the mirror, and somehow, she had managed to snip away for half an hour, and I still looked like I needed a haircut! I told her I usually had it cut shorter, and she responded, "Oh, but I'll have to use the electric razor then, you should have told me!". Annoying, since 1) I shouldn't have to care what tool she employs, and 2) I am the client, so what's with the accusatory tone?
So she cuts away furiously, employing the electric razor and less caution than seemed... cautious, and after another eternity, we're good... sort of. My own perception: "Oh my god!". Her's: "Does your hair always do that?". There's only one response to that: "I'd like some gel in there after all...".
So what's my point? Being a developer, I spend most of my day seeing the world from that perspective. But being a user is also a full-time job, so don't bother them with implementation details. In the future, I will be more respectful of business people who don't want to be bothered with choices which are so technical that they can't understand them without an explanation. They just want a solution.
This morning, by chance, before the hairdresser, I overheard an (admittedly very) junior developer explaining the merits of XML+XSD+XSLT vs. HTML to an uncaring (but patiently humouring) client. That could have been me. No more.