Ever wonder what drives the people who make great products like NetNewsWire, it’s either Oompa-Loompas or some sort strange digital farming. It’s a great interview about how to successfully build software. One of the keys for Ranchero is "empathy":
"The closest thing to a golden ticket is empathy. Designing software requires empathy, and so does writing your website and the documentation and, most importantly, communicating with the people who use your software."
Being able to listen to and understand your customers is critical to building desireable products.