Expecting Rain

Jon Udell posted an article a few months ago about data lock-in. I read it and agreed completely with the information shared. Since then, I've released a piece of software that has effectively locked it's data away from the way the users want it.

The software in question is a task management solution that is used in the company I work for. I provided easy, documented api's for getting to the data. Unfortunately, my primary users aren't able to utilize these as they aren't the least bit technically savvy. However, due to my api's, the data isn't truly locked-in. Myself or anyone else interested in perusing the documentation can access it just fine. I have since created some reports using the said api's and have retrieved the data in a manner that is more acceptable to the users.

So while I effectively locked my data in, I didn't technically. Where I really missed the boat was in my planning stage as I neglected to discover the true reports the users need. What is worse is that technically locked-in or not, the main users perceive that it was locked in, and perception may as well be fact as far as they are concerned.