This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on February 6, 2003). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.
Dave Hyatt has got to be one of the bravest people on the ‘net I’ve seen. Consider…
- He’s a developer for Apple, working on their Safari web browser…
- He keeps a weblog where he…
- Tracks and responds to what people are saying about Safari, good and bad…
- Reports on which bugs have been fixed and which are being worked on…
- …and on top of all that, he’s actually soliciting requests from readers as for what they’d like to see in Safari!
Kudos to Dave for being crazy enough to do this, and to Apple for allowing him to do this. More companies need to realize that this is a real, effective way to encourage their users. We know that Safari is being worked on, we know that it’s being worked on by someone who genuinely cares about the project, and we know that they care about and listen to what their customers want to see in the product. I can’t think of a better way to build and keep customer loyalty than that.