But, What Are We Really Building?

On every major web project that I have ever worked on, there comes that point where I find myself asking 'But, what am I really building?'. Often, the project has some idealistic mission statement about 'Providing people with X and interested in Y a way to connect with Z.' Often, Y=Z or X=Y and the mission statement is all the simpler. However, once the product is actually unleashed on the real world, only 1/10th of the people have X or interested in Y or even care about connecting with Z. The other 90% are interested in people with X or who are interested in Y, and want to connect them with P.

Reverse Your Mission Statement

What triggered me to write this blog entry was the comical, yet sadly true Cracked.com article
Internet Safety Tips. So, my point is this: While mission statements define the market and give support to the projects scope, your product will be ten times as successful if you also approach the mission statement in reverse. How do I allow only Z to connect with people with X who are most likely to be interested in Y. This is particularly in products that contain any part 'social networking' in their mixture of features.

Case in Point

Myspace.com has started to loose substantial ground for the first time in many months according to Google Trends for Myspace. Shortly after 29,000 registered sex offenders were found on Myspace, there has been a noticeable decline in activity and new membership. While some good PR and new features should be able to turn this trend around, you have to ask in hindsight, what could have been done differently to avoid this?

So, to all of you who are out there building your next great web product, please, please, please take the time to say, how do I keep people with X interested in Y from being targets of people attempting to connect them with P. Otherwise, do not be surprised when your product is shanghaied by the porn industry, illegal gambling, or other predators who can probably turn out a higher profit from your users than you can with their lack of moral fiber.