I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations — they generally produce their worst work when they do that.

— David Bowie

Software development can be an artistic endeavor. But there are few software projects that are free of users, patrons, clients, or customers.

Thus, with apologies to Mr. Bowie, there are two traps that software developers can fall into: building exclusively for their customers, and building exclusively for themselves.