Making something you like, and not some BS trying to triangulate the needs of some hypothetical user, is a very enjoyable way to go about a career in design and engineering. I'm lucky to be in that boat and have the ability to work on something I personally use as well. It makes so many things easy: I can have an insight from using the product myself, build a solution for it, ship it, and in general users share the same insight and appreciate it.
However, as I enjoy this, what often gives me pause about it is thinking about fields like medical device development, or services for the poor, where most people working on the product aren't in the market for that product. I don't think the same ethos applies as well there and it probably means that to accomplish something meaningful in these domains, a hefty dose of cognitive empathy is necessary, as well as checking one's own insights regularly to make sure we're not imagining things.
However, as I enjoy this, what often gives me pause about it is thinking about fields like medical device development, or services for the poor, where most people working on the product aren't in the market for that product. I don't think the same ethos applies as well there and it probably means that to accomplish something meaningful in these domains, a hefty dose of cognitive empathy is necessary, as well as checking one's own insights regularly to make sure we're not imagining things.