Joshua Herzig-Marx

From Josh Porter’s Bokardo blog, 7 Reasons Why Web Apps Fail:

1. [They f]ocus on social instead of personal.
2. They solve too many problems, or try to.
3. They’re about making someone other than the user happy.
4. They sell it the wrong way.
5. Not in it for the long haul.
6. They show too much of what’s going on, and get gamed.
7. They don’t have an underlying business strategy of improving people’s lives.

The details are well worth the read. Now, this list seems highly focused on social applications which is appropriate given the current Web 2.0 buzz. More critically, this list also ignores operational problems (inadequate staffing, constant requirements revisions). However, from an executive perspective, the list is equally valuable for non-Web projects. Are your clients (the people paying) the same as your users? Are your requirements (and the underlying problem) technical or human? (Via Vitamin)