Ben – I have lost my copy of inmates, but doesn’t surprise me that Cooper says that – fits with his approach.

Leisa – yay to you! that’s excellent

I’ve had a similar experience since I’ve been using Flickr. I did a little photography at school and since then I’ve taken the odd photo here and there (when I actually remembered to take my camera along), but since I’ve been using Flickr, I take my camera with me everywhere I go and feel as though I see the world with different eyes, always looking for a shot to take to share with my Flickr community.

I still take pretty rubbish photos, but I’m taking them moreregularly – who knows, I may improve, or take a course! – and it’s really had quite a profound impact on the way I see my world now.

Again – this is user behaviour that I never would have predicted and if you’d have surveyed me and asked if I’d envisage myself posting to Flickr every other day I would definitely have said no.

Eh, Users. Can’t trust ‘em, can’t ignore them.
I’m with you on the smart leap in the dark.

I just re-read Cooper’s “Inmates” and he says much the same thing. There’s even a cute diagram. He also makes the point that there’s a difference between listening to users (good) and following them (bad). He says that if you listen to users, you’ll learn about what their goals are and what the need but if you follow them, you’ll just end up with the same old.