While I agree that it's important to know about these considerations, I think it's equally valid to ignore them.
If I know my target audience I can properly support them. I can give them the best possible experience because I understand their needs and their assumptions. However, if I don't, then when I try and I will fail in embarrassing and sometimes infuriating ways.
I like to develop and design purposefully. I want to make something that may be available to all, but is tailored to perfection for a small group. This gives me a set of constraints and frees me from others. When I choose a locality I can ignore others and focus on the assumptions and ideal experience for that locality.
Obviously this doesn't work if you're more of a 'fishing' based company. You need to be just good enough for everyone that some group or another will bite and then you can focus on them while maintaining 'good enough' for everyone else.
The thing I'd hate to see is developers reading this article and wasting time on i18n and RTL support when they should be focusing on an exceptional experience for a user group they understand.
If I know my target audience I can properly support them. I can give them the best possible experience because I understand their needs and their assumptions. However, if I don't, then when I try and I will fail in embarrassing and sometimes infuriating ways.
I like to develop and design purposefully. I want to make something that may be available to all, but is tailored to perfection for a small group. This gives me a set of constraints and frees me from others. When I choose a locality I can ignore others and focus on the assumptions and ideal experience for that locality.
Obviously this doesn't work if you're more of a 'fishing' based company. You need to be just good enough for everyone that some group or another will bite and then you can focus on them while maintaining 'good enough' for everyone else.
The thing I'd hate to see is developers reading this article and wasting time on i18n and RTL support when they should be focusing on an exceptional experience for a user group they understand.