Lessons from the marketplace

In the process of consultancy using a negotiation support system, the author learnt the following lessons, which he shares in the hope that they will guide developers of decision and negotiation support systems: 1: The fact that a system is useful doesn’t mean that it is meaningful; 2: You can alienate half of your market or all of it; 3: Details often don’t matter; 4: There is no such thing as ‘true’ preference; 5: Satisfying the user is more important than satisfying the developer; 6: Things that aren’t important sometimes are; 7: Things that are often both more complex and simpler than they seem; 8: Hostility by users is present, but can be overcome.