How well do your users understand their own problems?

It didn't start out that way, but I had a great conversation w/ some co-workers the other day regarding a project we're working on in 2010.  When the group started talking about features for the project I think I found myself continuing to circle back to the question of whether or not we were contemplating building the right things for them.  I kept challenging the meeting attendees hone their metacognitive skills by thinking about the way our users may be perceiving the problems (or pain points) that they have using our applications and reports.

Eventually, I think I made my point but what I think it boils down to is that while our users are the best at experiencing the problems that we (either purposely or inadvertently) create, they aren't always the best at understanding their own problems.

So, how well do your users understand their own problems with the software you develop?  I'm in the camp that believes there are some savvy users out there that are actively aware of how they are completing a task and can also articulate the potential pain of doing that task.  I think those users are few and far between though.

Here are a couple things one could try to really understand their user's problem(s).

• Find the right Innovation Game ® that meets your needs and facilitate an event.
• Read Steve Krug's book Rocket Surgery Made Easy : The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems and then conduct usability tests.  Try it on your own site first.  Then, maybe try it on your competitor's sites.

My favorite definition of innovation is "...understanding a problem well enough to solve it in a new and novel way." (Credit goes to Luke Hohmann).  This definition encapsulated what I was trying to convey to the meeting attendees.  The challenge going forward and the next steps was figuring out, what can we do to get to the root of the problem so that we at least have a chance to innovate and differentiate?  Some of the ideas above can get you there.