For meanings of fun that include spending the day in hyper-mode, trying to reproduce problems customers report, trying to find tactful ways to report back that a problem is user error, figuring out which problems are real bugs and which ones are user error, then trying to work out just how much hand-holding we want the software to do.

The latter is the challenge, because historically my employer has been willing to engage in extreme hand-holding of the “no, we don’t let you shoot yourself in the foot. We hand you a nice, shiny rifle, help you to hold it, and we’ll even pull the trigger for you when you want to shoot yourself in the foot” variety. I believe this is what is known as “exemplary customer service”.

Personally I’d prefer a little less customer service of this sort and a little more self-reliance from our customers, but I’m not the target market here, and I know it.

Note to self: never underestimate the damage a frazzled customer who just wants to do the thing and doesn’t care about the fancy new portal you just built them can do to your software.