This thread is that classic user vs engineer conversation:
User: I don’t like this function
Engineer: oh, that isn’t how it was made
User: I know, I’m saying it isn’t a good design
Engineer: I don’t think you understand, that isn’t how it was designed to be used, please adjust how you do things to fit the design
User: I already make it work, I’m just asking if it could be changed, as I think it doesn’t make sense the way it is designed
Engineer2 steps in: it makes perfect sense, please read again what engineer 1 wrote, and it will all be clear to you
Engineers are awesome, but they often want the user to fit the design, instead of the design to fit the user. And there are often valid reasons for that, but we won’t always know the reasons behind the scenes as to why. But there are things that are culturally acceptable to critique, and things that are not. It is culturally acceptable for people to get very upset with the coffee they are served, but it is not acceptable to critique the design of a product if there is a fan base around it. Like you’ll have a difficult time criticizing Sony cameras, Klipsch, or BMW on forums, because of how those tools make people feel about themselves, they cannot accept the alternative.
We coffee people get a lot of grace at a high level, as people love coffee, but on a 1:1 ratio, we are heavily scrutinized by our customers every day, and their is little loyalty because of the options out their. So, you can make a thousand good cups of coffee and then one sour one and get a bad yelp review. For a small business that is a big deal. We are constantly under the gun…. er, bullet, haha. I’ve worked in some service jobs where people just having a bad day will throw stuff and yell at you. Trust me, I see mostly VERY constructive and thoughtfully typed out questions, complaints, and suggestions here on this forum.
I hope the engineers and team at Aillio know we want things to get better. If we spend one giving feedback instead of buying something else, it is because we want you all to succeed. So, try to read these “found issues” threads as if we are on the same team. It isn’t a “vs” thing. Well, at least for us it is not. I won’t speak for you, as perhaps you guys may very well see it that way. But at least on our end, we should be moving towards the same goals, and that won’t always be possible. Like I know I want more offline capability so behave more stability and control over my roasting, but the main thrust of your company seems to be pushing constant updates and cloud and free use of our data. And when customers mention changes not in line with that, it is like this thread. Anyway, keep a positive outlook on criticism. You’re still a first generation product and a young company, and have a ton of fans already. And we’ll keep challenging each other towards better things. Anyway, I’m more of a quality control person than a motivational speaker, but I hope you find some encouragement in this. Happy new year
