One of the challenges of software development is building an application - whether it's on the Web or installed on your PC - that you, the user of the application, will really use. There's the infamous developer dance between "Do I give the users what they want?" or "Do I give the users what they need?"
It is almost guaranteed that if you deliver a product that the users ask for, they won't be happy. You will inevitably need to change it because it's not what they wanted. Granted, they thought they wanted it when you asked them earlier, but now that they have it, they see that it's not what they really needed. 
"Can you just change this one thing?" is the beginning of The Journey of Many Changes.
The flipside is that if you give the users something that they didn't necessarily ask for, but you believe is what they really need, they won't be happy either. Why? Because you gave them something they didn't ask for. And the dance goes on.
What got us on this topic of software and dancing - as if these two words even belong in the same sentence? Well, if you recall my post from last week, I was talking about Church 1.0, Web 2.0 and Church 2.0.
If Web 2.0 is the user-friendly, more interactive version of the initial version of the Web (1.0), then is Church 2.0 the more user-friendly, more interactive version of the church we grew up with and may still attend (Church 1.0)?
Many people would say that a more user-friendly, more interactive, more participatory type of church experience is what they want. They don't want to come to church to be passively entertained and/or educated by the same people every week. They used to want that, but not anymore. Now they want to BE the church. Get involved. Do something that's going to make a difference - in the lives of their families, friends, and communities. All for God's glory.
But is this really what they want? Aren't these the same people who are too busy as it is? I mean, who's not too busy? If Church 2.0 was a pervasive reality, would people really come? Would they really have the time or the desire? Would they really participate?
Do you give the "users" what they want or what they need? It's a dance, I tell you.
To be continued next week...
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