Trust Your Users.


In the space of about ten hours last Saturday, a large room full of geeks and coders created twenty nine different "manipulations" of government data sources with a view to "Coding A Better Country" because:

"Government isn't very good at computers. They spend millions to produce mediocre websites, hide away really useful public information and generally get it wrong. Which is a shame."

They adapted and mashed-up existing websites to generate unbranded utilities that delivered something they, as citizens, felt was better than that which already existed.

You can see an archive of what was produced here (videos here) and dwell on the fact that, yet again, it's a case of what can be achieved if you help your users decide how they want to use your product/service rather than imposing on them your view of what they want.

It doesn't lead to a diminution of your business. It makes people more likely to be your users/customers.

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