There’s a theme in Monty Python movies -a comedic tactic, if you will- to take light of people who say one thing but really do/mean/say another. It really IS quite funny. Those of you familiar with Monty Python and the Holy Grail will find these scenes familiar. Those of you who are not (for shame!), here’s an example of what I mean…

First Scene - Arthur

Guard: Who goes there?

Arthur: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, Defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!

Guard: Pull the other one!

Arthur: I am. And this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of Knights who will join me in my court at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.

Guard: What, ridden on a horse?

Arthur: Yes.

Guard: You’re using coconuts!

Arthur: What?

Guard: You’ve got two empty halves of coconut and you’re banging ‘em together.

Arthur: So? We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land, through the kingdom of Mercia, through —

Guard: Where’d you get the coconuts?

Arthur: We found them.

Guard: Found them? In Mercia?! The coconut’s tropical!

The Black Knight

Arthur: Now stand aside, worthy adversary.

Black Knight: ‘Tis but a scratch.

Arthur: A scratch?! Your arm’s off!

Black Knight: No it isn’t.

Arthur: Well, what’s that then? [Pointing to the knight’s arm lying on the ground.]

Black Knight: I’ve had worse.

Burn the Witch!

Bedevere: What makes you think that she is a witch?

Mr Newt: What, she turned me into a newt!

Bedevere: A newt?

[pause]

Mr Newt: I got better.

Bring Our Yer Dead!

Dead Collector: Bring out yer dead. [Hits gong]

Large Man: Here’s one.

Dead Collector: Ninepence.

Old Man: I’m not dead!

Dead Collector: What?

Large Man: Nothing. Here’s your ninepence.

Old Man: I’m not dead!

Dead Collector: ‘Ere, he says he’s not dead.

Large Man: Yes he is.

Old Man: I’m not!

Dead Collector: He isn’t.

Large Man: Well, he will be soon, he’s very ill.

Old Man: I’m getting better!

Large Man: No you’re not, you’ll be stone dead in a moment.

Dead Collector: Well, I can’t take him like that. It’s against regulations.

As funny as this is on the big screen, it’s not so funny when it comes to real life. Now, I’m not accusing people of lying, but people do have a penchant for believing that they do one thing, when they really do quite the opposite. For instance, think about how you would ride a skate board or a scooter - do you push with your right or left foot? Do you wear name tags on the right or left side? In what order to you eat the food on your plate at dinner? Think about how many people are in jail because of faulty eye-witness testimony – victims convinced of what/who they saw? What people think and what is actually true are often different things.

This gets me thinking. How should we listen to users? We know we should, but how much should they dictate what we design? The trick, I believe, is to hear not just what they’re saying, but what they’re NOT saying, and how they’re saying it. Basically …. we need to interpret what they’re telling us.

A good book about this is “Are Your Lights On? How to figure out what the problem REALLY is” by Donald Gause and Gerald Weinburg. It covers techniques for how to get at the real problem. It’s such an easy trap to only take your users’ word for what they need or want and design solutions based on that. Think about where Apple would be if they just ‘listened’ to users without really hearing what they were saying … without figuring out the real (right) problem to solve. As Henry Ford is attributed to saying “if I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have asked for a faster horse”. Or maybe two empty halves of coconuts