Exit Interview

Content:

(1) What is your essential question, and what are your answers? 

EQ: How can a software developer create applications that best meet customers' needs?

Answer 1: A software developer can create applications that best meet customers' need by having a solid foundation in fundamental knowledge.

Answer 2: A software developer can create applications that best me customers' needs by understanding the business side of the application.
Answer 3: A software developer can create application that best meet customer's needs by actively keeping up to date with technology and continually learning new technological subjects.

What is your best answer and why?

My best answer is my second answer, due to the fact that it involves the developer of the understanding of the customer, the people who will use the application, and how it will be used. In a sense, it is basically the understanding of the application's main purpose to fulfill. A solid foundation, as stated in answer one, can be helpful and will certainly make the process of creating the application easier, but this does not mean that the application will directly be in line with customers' needs, much less met them at all. Also, as stated in answer 3, learning new subjects is also helpful and it allows the developer to be be flexible if addressed with a task they have never done before, but this is not present in every request. In fact, it rarely happens that the developer would need to learn something new. Also, learning new things can help to meet a customer's needs by doing something they requested, but it will not ensure that it can be completed as successfully as possible as having an understanding of the business side of the application. Therefore, due to these reasons, answer 2 is my best answer.

(2) What process did you take to arrive at this answer?

I wanted to research what is at the core of programming an application and wanted to single out what was really important. I found that the only reason why applications exist is due to the end goal, as everything is worked towards and developed to complete it. I found that this goal is the customers' needs on the business side of the application, mixed in with other work and date that needs to be researched. My mentor even said that the business side is most important as well as it allows the programmer to not only understand how the system works, but also understand the request, or end goal, as well. I was able to see how this relate directly to both it's success as an application, but also its relativity to the essential question itself.

(3) What problems did you face? How did you resolve them?

One problem I ran into was defining who the customer is. Throughout my research, I found that applications were for both customers that came directly to the developer with request (as in the case of my mentorship and independent component), as well as the customer as a general target audience in the market. To make sure I could accurately represent who the customer is, I had to define the customer as two different types - a direct customer and a target audience. I also had to define the differences in knowing what their needs are since direct customers would write request layout all the needed items explicitly and target audiences would be unknown, therefore requiring research into what problems they need solving.

(4) What are the two most significant sources you used to answer your essential question and why?
Stating that the business side is extremely important.

Mentorship and interview with Lily Wu.

Why understanding customer is important.

Interview #3 with Jorge Huerta.

Identified how much change is causes depending on the target audience.

Katie Klumb's article "How to Design Websites for a Target Audience."

Link that the target audience is a customer also.
Diane Vigil's article "Web Design, Ad Copy and Targeting your Target Audience."

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Huerta, Jorge. Personal Interview. Feb. 13, 2015.

Klumb, Katie. "How to Design Websites for a Target Audience." Web Ascender. Michigan Website Design and Development, July 1, 2014. Web. Jan. 23, 2015.<http://www.webascender.com/Blog/ID/565/How-to-Design-Websites-for-a-Target-Audience#.VMJZTivF-VM>

Vigil, Diane. "Web Design, Ad Copy and Targeting your Target Audience." Web Design Help. DianeV Web Design Studio, n.d. Web. Jan. 23, 2015. <http://dianev.com/web-design-help/web_design_basics/target_audience.html>

Wu, Lily. Personal Interview. Oct. 24, 2014.