Having said all that though, they do seem to take a certain glee in rubbing their detractors the wrong way. I just don’t think taking the thoughts and feelings of others into account is their strong suit. Luckily they are smart and switched on enough to not really have to.

This is of course very different from the debate DN and 37S are having, but I’d certainly advocate that developers be users of their software.

john

Like Norman, I’ve tried some of their products (Basecamp, Backpack, Campfire) but ditched them all after a short while because they force you to work the 37Signals way, i.e. not my way.

But I also agree with Fried, who I think is saying that there are people and businesses out there who can’t work out their own productivity methods for themselves and need to be led by the application.

So 37Signals aren’t designing for the masses, they’re designing for themselves and then selling that to people who don’t mind being told how to work. And what’s wrong with that?

As web designers, practically everything we use will have flaws or limitations in some areas — there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution to the myriad of problems we have to solve and I think its unfair of Donald to single out 37 in making his point. The past couple of years have seen a huge number of online applications developed to meet the needs of their creators, realising that others can use them too — some of them have made it big, some have failed.

To cite Shopify as an example — in my opinion one of the best e-commerce applications currently available — in the right context — for those who want a simple shopping solution without the hosting and security worries etc to consider — its great. If you want user accounts, multiple pricing, more advanced content management features, not so great. Those ‘not so great’ areas dont make Shopify a bad application or Jaded Pixel ‘arrogant’ for not jumping to attention to develop said lacking features –simply that Shopify does what it is designed to do and does it well. If you need those oter features, you need to look elsewhere.

Looking at these applications across the board, for some they fit the mould, for others they dont, thats the way it goes, but to suggest this approach is flawed or arrogant demonstrates a lack of real-world understanding.

Some people feel it’s best practice to check that. Some people get forced to check it by company policy, project requirements or investor demands. And some people feel like they should pay lip service to the ideals of user research.

What I think irritates most people about 37 Signals is that they can actually get away with skipping all of that and still be successful.