"It’s the same for plenty of other products too. You can do all the planning you want. You can focus group. You can beta test. You can theorize. You can project. But nothing will ever match the feedback you get from real people, especially ones who are paying to use what you’re selling. Everything up until then is conjecture."
Matt, 37Signals http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1581-the-moment-of-truth-is-a-real-audience