They’re not wrong, you are

When I first noticed, it was inconceivable to me.

Then, I realised, I’d been missing the point.

I’m typing this on a Keychron C1 mechanical keyboard. Big. TKL layout. Double-shot legends. Hot-swappable Gateron brown switches.

And wrong.

The lights don’t line up perfectly with the keys. The keycap legends aren’t perfectly straight.

Every keyboard I’ve used since 2005 (other than this one) have been Apple keyboards, where nothing is out of alignment with anything.

Here’s where I missed the point. Here’s where I was wrong about it being wrong:

Apple keyboards are supposed to be in perfect alignment. They’re supposed to look sleek on your desk.

The C1 is supposed to be fun. They’re supposed to let keyboard nerds nerd out a little.

When we measure every product or service with the same success criteria, only those designed to meet those criteria will succeed.

And not everyone has the same criteria.

That’s why knowing your audience matters so much.

In your pursuit of great work, remember to ask yourself: “Do I know precisely who this piece is made for? Do I know precisely what they want?”

What they want probably isn’t wrong, even if it sometimes looks that way to begin with.