My favourite users are those who challenged me most for years: the people who questioned everything at the start. Every meeting brought questions. Every configuration prompted “Why this way?” Every step came with “I will not proceed until I understand exactly how it works.”
As a young consultant, I found that exhausting. I wanted to follow my schedule; they wanted understanding.
Others nodded at everything: all fine, all great. Mostly they wanted me gone, although I thought they were cooperating brilliantly.
Then we went live. The most demanding users had almost no problems: everything worked and they understood it. The supposedly ideal users had hundreds of questions and complaints.
I learned that nodding is not understanding. The real signs of success are users who question, stop progress until they understand and seem like obstacles — but are actually the foundation.
Now, with experience, I smile when I meet a “difficult” user. They are my implementation heroes, our people on the ground. No successful go-live would happen without them.
If you recognise yourself, thank you for every constructive criticism and disagreement. You have earned a superhero cape!
Marko Carević
Uvid d.o.o.