In my experience (~10 years of doing this sort of work) software engineers typically understand how their users use the software in the abstract, but not in the actual experience.
E.g. It is well understood that users rely on a hotkey "a lot." It is not understood that users are so familiar with a hotkey that, if you relocated it on the keyboard, productivity would decrease 40% for 3 months.
That distinction is fairly important when trying to decide whether {new feature X} is actually worth disrupting {old feature Y}.
E.g. It is well understood that users rely on a hotkey "a lot." It is not understood that users are so familiar with a hotkey that, if you relocated it on the keyboard, productivity would decrease 40% for 3 months.
That distinction is fairly important when trying to decide whether {new feature X} is actually worth disrupting {old feature Y}.