You’re reading Signal vs. Noise, a publication about the web by 37signals since 1999.

Similar to Steve Jobs’ “We build the products that we want to use ourselves.” http://d5.allthingsd.com/20070531/d5-gates-jobs-transcript/

True, but sometimes you must follow orders, or people die. Ok not die, but you don’t get the job

It’s nice to have such a philosophy, but not everyone is able to do that. Us folks with regular jobs will have to simply accept what someone else makes for us to buy.

Sort of like how dog food companies feed the dog food to their own pets. I wonder if there’s a term for this philosophy.

Simple, rather obvious stuff to me … but excellent.

I’m building a web site that will be a subscriber site, but it’s first for my own use. That REALLY makes a huge difference.

Thanks, 37Signals.

Disclaimer: I use and LOVE a Braun shaver and a new 7 Series Braun is on my “list” of things to get.

Santa … are you listening??

“Simple, rather obvious” stuff, perhaps, but as he did it first, turns the simple and obvious into “visionary, rather timeless”.

Note: I am a Vitsoe 606 owner—thus, my opinion is indeed biased.

A designer’s great skill is arguably to understand and respond to someone else’s context and problem …. and perhaps to do this more than once, then find the common elements to create a better-then-hoped-for solution, or even to draw those other people together through their products. Use your products, yes – but don’t isolate yourself with narrow and selfish “my products, for me” ... other designers have insights you don’t, so you should use their products to see what you’re missing!

This is definitely a fact. Scratching your own itch always seems to produce the best results.

It also helps that you become one of the first to know of a bug or pain point in the product.

I hear that, my app was made because nothing else out there could do what I wanted. I refine it every day so that it save me lots of time and is easy to use.