About EPSS & Technology - Opinions about Technology: editorials, comments and critiques about software design, the computer industry and the future of software design and development.Humans should not have to grok XML
Today the computing world tends toward using XML for any and all formal specifications and data descriptions. The author, a big fan of XML, asks a blasphemous question: "Is XML totalitarianism a good idea?" In this opinion piece, Terence Parr, co-founder of jGuru, demonstrates that XML makes a lousy human interface. He also provides questions to ask yourself to determine if XML is appropriate even for your project's program-to-program interface needs. (2001-09-02)Whipping Users into Shape
We need minimum competency standards for Web use—some sort of butterfly ballot test. Don't be afraid to get tough. "You want to visit my site? You can't handle my site." Screen those eyeballs. I don't want any more visitors with a liberal sense of entitlement to a good user experience. Nobody's entitled to a good user experience. It has to be earned. And you don't necessarily get it even then. Life isn't fair. (2001-08-12)Usability in CRM
Frontend Usability: After months of debate you’ve chosen a CRM package. After weeks of work it is configured and installed across your call centre. Only one problem remains – nobody knows how to use it. And the solution is so impenetrable that perhaps nobody ever will – especially with staff turnover rates so high in this industry. In CRM, user acceptance is a huge issue. End users, who are rarely the same people who choose applications in the first place, can be extraordinarily resourceful when it comes to undermining or working around new products or implementations introduced by manager. (2001-08-05)Usability and online financial services: big losses
TaskZ.com: The Internet killer app that never came to be was online banking and financial services. A study published by CyberDialogue found that 33% of the early adopters of online banking abandoned the online experience after one year. According to Michael Weil of TowerGroup's Primary Market Research, "Irrespective of the fact that the majority of U.S. consumers are now ready for online banking in technological terms, behaviorally they continue to be slow to migrate away from traditional channels like the local bank branch or call centers." Recent numbers suggest that online financial services, when adjusted for market growth, are dead flat. Why haven't online financial services begun to reach the customer penetration levels projected? The primary reason: USABILITY. (2001-07-29)The Short-term Benefits of a Usability Strategy
Frontend.com: Usability, and professional interface design, is often presented as a long-term strategy for those involved in software development. There is a common perception that as effective as user-centred interface design can be in terms of creating satisfied end-users, brand loyalty, and repeat business, it lacks something of the ‘wow’ factor and will not affect the bottom line in the short term. In our experience, nothing could be further from the truth. Particularly in today’s software market, many of our customers report significant and immediate improvements in terms of product sales. (2001-07-29)This Week's Agenda: The Usability Industry
ClickZ: In Web site design, users are the one stakeholder who do not have a voice at the table, so speaking up for their needs is an important job. Simplicity falls by the wayside if it is not explicitly and vigorously defended at all times. It is so tempting to add another feature or to make a fancier Flash animation that design bloat is the natural direction of all projects unless somebody fights against it. (2001-07-29)Good Software Takes Ten Years. Get Used To It.
Joel on Software: So, it takes a long time to write a good program, but when it's done, it's done. Oh sure, you can crank out a new version every year or two, trying to get the upgrade revenues, but eventually people will ask: "why fix what ain't broken?" Failure to understand the ten-year rule leads to crucial business mistakes. (2001-07-22)Think Useful, Not Cool
ClickZ: When it comes to our customers, we need to realize that the vast majority of people use technology not for what it is, but for what it does. The problem has been that most of us who write about technology tend to be early adopters. Early adopters tend to first like technology for what it is, figuring that we'll find a use for it later. Unfortunately, as the lessons of the past year and a half have taught us, most consumers aren't early adopters. They're regular folks who are looking for solutions for their problems and aren't necessarily impressed just because something's new and different. Unlike the early adopters, most people are more interested in technology for what it does, not just because it's new. They want useful, not cool. (2001-07-22)Good Grips: Usability before Branding
Ask Tog: Lately, web companies start out with a branding strategy, use up 90% of their resources developing that strategy, then find out they have neither time nor screen real estate left to develop a useful product. The result? A whole bunch of Flash and little substance. (2001-07-08)Second sight
Guardian Unlimited: Do web designers hate users? Or are most of them simply incompetent? Either way, there is no doubt about the mismatch between what users want and what the vast majority of commercial web sites provide. As a user, I know what users want. They want information and they want it fast, which is why they flock to sites such as Google and Yahoo Web designers, however, seem to be more interested in showing off their "design skills" - or lack of them. The result is gratuitous Flash intros, over-large graphics, pointless "applets", inconsistent menus, and pages that take far too long to download. (2001-07-01)Keep it simple, stupid!
The Dalai Lama once said that simplicity is the key to happiness in the modern world. This philosophy can be adapted into the realm of web design and digital interface design. The expressions "Keep it simple, stupid", "Kill your darlings" and "Less is more" all pinpoint the fact that simplicity is important. Simplicity lasts. Simplicity is necessary in order to properly convey any idea. (2001-06-24)Alan Cooper sees planning as key to downstream dividends
InfoWorld: In this interview, Cooper talks about what ails the industry today and what it should do -- including abandoning browser technology -- to reinvigorate itself. According to Cooper:: "The browser is a red herring; it's a dead end. The idea of having batched processing inside a very stupid program that's controlled remotely is a software architecture that was invented about 25 years ago by IBM, and was abandoned about 20 years ago because it's a bad architecture. We've gone tremendously retrograde by bringing in Web browsers." (2001-06-24)Content Is Not a Technology Issue
ClickZ: The wrong people are in charge of too many content projects. Content is not a technology problem. Content is about people. And people who understand content are enthused by the content itself, not the technology that is used to deliver it. (2001-06-24)Technology stars decry state of industry innovation
The direction of technological innovation has gone off track by focusing on overly complex systems, losing sight of the goal widespread adoption, a panel of experts said Tuesday evening. Speaking at the InfoWorld CTO Forum here, the group agreed that both enterprises and consumers are turned off by systems that are simply too hard to understand. (2001-06-24)Useful tool or sinister plot?
Boston Globe: I think the real problem with browser Smart Tags is that few people will use them. Hardly anyone really surfs the Web anymore. Usually, we go straight to our favorite sites. We have no interest in idly clicking a few extra links, Microsoft's or anyone else's. So even if Smart Tags are an evil plot to dominate the Web, it's a plot that won't work. (2001-06-17)The Net Effect: May the Best Interface Win!
Technology Review: Well-written software doesn't require that people bend their behavior to the fancy of the machine; it responds productively to the quirks and foibles of its human users. One nice feature of Microsoft Word, for instance, is that if you type a word with a common misspelling, the program will automatically correct it. Fixing typos, letting people type spaces in credit-card numbers and even letting people type the letters "O" and "l" for the numbers "0" and "1" isn't rocket science. (2001-06-03)Please Stand By: We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulty
Context Magazine: Speech recognition; phones with Web browsers based on the Wireless Application Protocol, or WAP; Internet-based telephone calls; interactive television; and online bill payment have been touted for years—some for more than a decade—as having the potential to revolutionize business by giving consumers new ways to purchase goods, gather information, and get service. Yet the combined effect of the technologies has so far been almost imperceptible. Their promoters could be accused of, in effect, hanging out signs promising: "All Your Problems Solved...Tomorrow." It’s not that these technologies don’t hold promise. Most hold enormous promise. It’s just that the predictions about when they will start to fulfill that promise have been wildly optimistic. (2001-06-03)Goal-Directed® Innovation
Cooper Interactive Design, Alan Cooper: Really useful benefits often come without lots of innovation. For example, Amazon continues to stay afloat in hard times for the same reason they grew so rapidly in boom times: because they focus relentlessly on customer satisfaction. Yes, Amazon is an innovator, but what really attracts and keeps their customers is the way they work so hard to please each individual person. They remember who you are, and they call new books to your attention. They accept returns and are there when you want to speak to a human. It's the caring, the attention, and the customer-centering that makes the company successful. The innovations are incidental. (2001-06-03)5 Technologies You Need to Know
This article describes 5 technologies that will have an significant impact on the future of computing. The technologies include: ultra thin circuits that will make microprocessors 100 times more powerful than today's; thin, flexible and colorful electroluminescence flat panel displays; optical networks that use beams of light, rather than electrons, to carry data; Internet presence technology that knows where you and your friends are; and finally intelligent data mining tools that are easy to use. (2001-05-27)Forrester: The Web will die
Forrester, a research firm, predicts that the Internet will experience a second round of expansion that will move it beyond the browser to become a more interactive and pervasive medium which Forrester calls the "X Internet." In its evolution, the report predicts, it will eclipse the Web. The X Internet, Forrester says, will be more executable, offering real-time, interactive data through disposable code, or programs that can be used once and then thrown away. (2001-05-27)Complete the Revolution: An Interview with Michael L. Dertouzos
Computerworld: "There is a lot of confusion between pervasive or ubiquitous computing on the one hand and human-centric computing on the other. They are not the same. Pervasive computing implies a lot of equipment, where the focus is on a lot of devices that are themselves computers. Human-centric computing, however, focuses on the human. Today, computers are hard to use. If we make them more pervasive and use more of them, there will be that much more aggravation around us. By focusing on human-centered systems, we declare that our goal is to serve humans. Whether that calls for more or less stuff is secondary." (2001-05-13)The Humane Touch: Bad Design Can Be Costly
Forbes, Jef Raskin: Bad user interfaces may be more expensive than you think, including software your company buys as well as software your company writes. For example, everybody knows that Microsoft Word, Excel, and other popular programs can be maddeningly frustrating, but few take the time to figure out what their shortcomings mean in terms of lost work, lower worker morale, and wasted dollars. Microsoft Word requires at least 30% more keystrokes and 100% more mouse moves to accomplish certain editing tasks than would an optimal word processor. Decreasing physical work not only saves time but also decreases incidents of repetitive stress injury. Good design can eliminate many of the steps that are most damaging to nerves and tendons. (2001-05-13)Enterprise Application Portals (pdf)
EAI Journal: In the next few years, commercial Websites, as we know them, will vanish. As organizations increasingly move to do business on the Internet, their Websites will evolve into enterprise portals. Ultimately, all organizations will use an enterprise portal to establish their Internet presence. They’ll discover that stand-alone application and integration servers cannot sustain an enterprise portal strategy, and will have to exploit service-based application architectures and deploy portal servers. (2001-05-13)Looking Back to Move Forward
Webtechnique: It's our responsibility as innovators and business professionals to ensure that we approach this latest technology trend with professionalism and consideration for the end user. We must develop applications that address the user's specific needs. We can't simply modify existing Web applications by slapping together code and delivering the apps wirelessly. It's time to tap into the amassed knowledge of what makes a quality product that users will integrate into their lives. If we do that, the result will be wireless applications that make sense and that account for the strengths and weaknesses of the technology. (2001-05-13)Simplicity costs less and works better
It's cheaper to develop a simpler website, or product, or interface. It's also cheaper to avoid building a complex technical support mechanism, writing long manuals, and hiring staff to take phone calls from irate customers because your product is too hard to use. I'll even go one further, and say that simplicity will generate more money, because, even though you may not be offering every service to everyone, you'll be offering something valuable to just the right people. You can spend $10000 on a fancy Flash introduction to your website that offers no value to your users. They don't pay to see the animation (nor would they), and they aren't getting a service from you. In fact, most users will either see it once, and ignore it, or just skip it altogether. Lose that animation, and save $10000. (2001-05-13)The New, New IT Strategy
CIO Magazine: According to this article by Tom Davenport "...successful companies make their IT investments in the core of the business, consistent with their product and service strategies. In almost every case, there's a link between the technology and something the customer can see and buy. The company that's excellent at IT strategy today must excel at ERP in the back office, CRM and e-commerce in the front office, as well as data warehousing, mining and KM. Virtually every key process—internal and interorganizational—has to be reengineered through IT. (2001-05-06)Evolution and Revolution in the Practice of Medicine
ZDNet Tech InfoBase: Medical advances occur at an astonishing rate. The medical literature expands like a replicating virus. Busy practitioners can no longer keep abreast of the latest developments. Meanwhile, our improved ability to treat disease and manage chronic illnesses results in more difficult medical decision-making and increasing opportunities to "miss something." The need for technology-based decision support at the point of care has never been greater. (2001-04-22)The Cosmic Usability Test
Information Week: Usability may sound like yet another techie buzzword, but what it represents philosophically is a willingness to maximize a user's experience, and thus heighten a product's effectiveness. This concept goes well beyond asking users where to place the navigation bar. It's more than a collection of rules that dictate the percentage of visitors you'll lose if your Web pages require excessive scrolling. The quality of the customer interaction is key. And usability is the science behind it. (2001-04-22)Intranets Save Time- But for Whom?
Business 2.0, Jakob Nielsen: The reality is that most intranets are a mess. Employees waste inordinate amounts of time trying to find answers to their problems, and most companies have no active programs in place to improve their intranets or make them into productivity tools. Intranets often suffer from the worst mistakes of Website design while having only a fraction of the budget allocated to marketing-oriented Websites. (2001-04-15)Remember The User's Point Of View
Information Week: Compressed software-development cycles make early feedback from users more important but less likely to happen. The Web's sprawling nature means IT shops often lack an accurate picture of their apps' eventual users--who may be customers, employees, partners, or the simply curious. Just as important, integration between an application's user interface and its back-end data-processing portions has moved to the fore of usability concerns. One example: A user error on a simple name-and-address form often returns another blank form--a big turnoff to Web patrons. (2001-04-08)Thinking Outside the Box
Washington Post: That flashing "12:00" has become a symbol of technology as tyranny, taunt, impotence, ignorance, intimidation, humiliation, stone in the shoe and pain in the butt. It stands for innovation created without humans in mind. Yet humans have grown to live with it. To expect it. To adjust themselves to the selfishness of these machines. Like sheep. (2001-03-25)Debunking the myths of UI design
IBM: In software development, design is widely misunderstood and undervalued. Often no explicit user interface design is done separately from the code. Iterative design then becomes recoding. This is a short-sighted strategy because it results in significantly more code being written in the long run. Because design is unavoidable, the real issue is whether it is left implicit in the software being developed, or made explicit and captured separately. The useful debate is about how to do design work well, and how to capture it in an optimal form for communicating to those who implement it. (2001-03-18)Is the Internet just another tool?
The Irish Times: The steam engine, aircraft and radio - all were welcomed with exaggerated claims, both from those who were in favour of them and by those who saw them as heralds of doom. While the Internet is still a new technology, with time it will be considered as common place as older technologies we are now all familiar with. (2001-01-18)Enough with Themes Already
Perhaps we are witnessing the last paroxysm of flexibility before a new, consistent user interface emerges from all the conflicting models out there. Maybe themes will get so out of control that users will revolt and demand a brave new world of consistent interfaces. But if all themes are going to do is make a virtue out of obscurity and delay progress, then I see them as a plague that must be stopped. (2001-03-18)Back To The Drawing Board
One of the major problems, according to experts, is that the user experience is almost always left to programmers and engineers, who are driven more by a love affair with technology than empathy with the user. "In most organizations, the people designing the systems never actually interact with users," Konstan said. The result is that engineers and programmers often guess at what their users might want, or assume that users will thrill to the same kind of product the they would. Plus there's the normal human desire to do something noticeable, rather than something whose design is subsumed by its utility. "You don't win awards for doing things that are conventional," Krug said. "And if you are a designer, you probably think that you've been hired to do something unusual and original and engaging." (2001-03-04)Hype and Anti-Hype
New York Times: "The Gartner Group consultants have developed a useful concept to describe the hype around new technologies, which they call the "hype cycle." As a new technology — like the Internet — is triggered, the hype curve soars upward until it reaches a peak of inflated expectations. Then it sinks almost straight down into a trough of disillusionment, as the less successful players drop out. And finally it climbs steadily upward again to a new stable plateau, as clear winners emerge and the new technology is absorbed, integrated and made profitable by people and industries that understand it." (2001-02-25)Are Users Stupid?
Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox: "Opponents of the usability movement claim that it focuses on stupid users and that most users can easily overcome complexity. In reality, even smart users prefer pursuing their own goals to navigating idiosyncratic designs. As Web use grows, the price of ignoring usability will only increase." (2001-02-18)Sins of animation
Nua Knowledge Base: The mistake that fans of animation make is that they think the web reader, somehow, is a captive audience, the way a television viewer can be. TV viewers will sometimes watch because they're passive: they're watching the show, and will wait till it begins again. Web readers are anything but passive. Web readers are active—sometimes hyperactive. They're looking for something, usually information, and the instant they feel they're not getting what they want they're gone. (2001-02-18)The Interface Revolutionary
Computer World: According to Jeff Rasikin: "Anytime you make a system faster to use, easier to learn and less frustrating, there are psychological benefits to the individual user and bottom-line productivity benefits to the enterprise. There are also physical benefits: an interface that takes fewer keystrokes and less "mousing around" creates less repetitive stress injuries." (2001-02-18)Overwhelmed by Tech
U.S. News: "According to a recent study by the market-research firm Gartner Group, 43 percent of the time Americans spend with electronic appliances when they first get them is devoted to fiddling or figuring out how they work; even then, hardly anyone figures out all the functions. "Most people use about 35 percent of the capacity of any one technology they get their hands on," says Michelle Weil, a psychologist and product-design consultant, "and then they stop." (2001-02-04)The Iteration Trap
Alan Cooper: "High-tech companies are in a hurry—as well they should be—but many hurt themselves by trying to move products out the door too quickly. I often hear executives repeat homilies like "Ship early, ship often," and "Launch and learn." They assume that there is no penalty for simply slapping something together, shipping it, and then upgrading their product or site in a rapid iteration cycle. Unfortunately, there is a big, hidden cost associated with this tactic." (2001-01-28)Yo! It's MRC, Not CRM!
Grock Dot Com: According to this insightful editorial about the hot new trend to use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software: "Building a relationship takes time. Shoving some tech-heavy CRM application at your customer is more likely to push them away than draw them in. If you want to get it right, you need to follow MRC, not CRM: Manage your e-business correctly so you can establish a Relationship from which you can develop a delighted and loyal Customer. Only then can all the other stuff you do have the impact you want." (2001-01-28)Loyalty is Priceless
Grock Dot Com: "To create loyal customers you have to get away from what you want to give them. In the customer-empowered world of e-commerce, your customers aren’t interested in what you want to push. In fact, they’re not interested in being pushed at all. They’re interested in finding what they want to buy, and in finding vendors who will help them. So learn to give them what they want, and you are a heck of a lot more likely to get what you want: more sales, more repeat business, and more referrals!" (2001-01-28)Overwhelmed by Tech
US News: According to a recent study by the market-research firm Gartner Group, 43 percent of the time Americans spend with electronic appliances when they first get them is devoted to fiddling or figuring out how they work; even then, hardly anyone figures out all the functions. "Most people use about 35 percent of the capacity of any one technology they get their hands on," says Michelle Weil, a psychologist and product-design consultant, "and then they stop." (2001-01-14)The Butterfly Ballot: Anatomy of a Disaster
Ask Tog: If you haven't had enough of the US election snafu then check out Bruce Tognazzini's post mortem analysis of the usability of the butterfly ballot. Bruce writes: "So here I come doing a little Monday morning quarterbacking. Sure, it's easy enough to see now what a stupid design it was, now that they game is over. That's what user testing is for. So you can play the game before you play the game. A competent designer, in my opinion, would have predicted this outcome just from a glance at the ballot, but even a beginner should have had enough sense to user test the design before release. That rather obviously was not done in this case, and a serious miscarriage of thousands of voter's wishes resulted." (2001-01-08)User-Unfriendly
LA Times: "Welcome to the 21st century, where nothing works right, critical components of everyday life are far too complicated for average people to operate, and the guys responsible for foisting the whole mess upon the world don't really seem to care. Computers, networks, VCRs, e-mail, even the lowly remote control have evolved from labor-saving devices into cranky, spiteful, hard-to-use, unreliable tools of the devil." (2001-01-01)User-hostile web design
Nua Knowledge Base: "But there’s another class of Web annoyances that are actually DESIGNED to annoy, and it’s growing fast. The most ubiquitous example is the animated banner ad; the latest is the abusive pop-up window." (2001-01-01)In praise of simplicity
NUA Knowledge Base: According to this article by Gerry McGovern "People are yearning for SIMPLICITY. People are tired of technology that constantly overcomplicates things, that is poorly designed, and that is full of bugs. Complexity is the curse of the digital age. It is a type of intellectual pollution that smothers clear thought. Complexity is not a sign of intelligence, but rather a sign of a hyperactive mind gouging on more. True genius and great design is about turning something complex into a product that is simple to use and delivers a real benefit to the consumer." (2000-12-17)High tech's missionaries of sloppiness
Salon Magazine: According to this article: "In analysing repair histories of 13 kinds of products gathered by Consumer Reports, PC World found that roughly 22 percent of computers break down every year -- compared to 9 percent of VCRs, 7 percent of big-screen TVs, 7 percent of clothes dryers and 8 percent of refrigerators." The article also reports that "...the Gartner Group discovered that there was a failure rate of 25 percent for notebook computers used in large American corporations. " The author concludes that "A culture of carelessness seems to have taken over in high-tech America. The personal computer is a shining model of unreliability because the high-tech industry today actually exalts sloppiness as a modus operandi." (2000-12-17)Why software still sucks
Upside Today: The article is based on an interview with Jason Lanier about his essay: "One Half of a Manifesto" Lanier says his purpose in writing the essay "...is to force engineers in both the proprietary and open source development camps to recognize that the issue of software quality has taken a back seat during the past decade. Whether this is due to sheer laziness on the part of programmers in response to faster and cheaper hardware systems or simply a fundamental blind spot in the software design community." (2000-12-17)The Revenge of the Library Scientist
Online: It's high time for business professionals to thoroughly understand the profession. They will be surprised at just how suited librarians are to the dot com world. Lets explore the Valley of the Librarians. Traditionally, they have been responsible for conducting research, gathering information, and organizing information. To do so they have been trained in several key areas. (2000-12-03)Butterfly Ballot Causes Performance Problems
Audrey Choden, Suite 101: Consider the ballot as a performance support tool designed to aid voters in an election. The performance support tools you design may not be used to elect the president of the United States, but they are used to guide on-the-job performance. If not designed properly, these tools can cause employees to make mistakes affecting customer service, production, and safety. (2000-12-03)It's the User Interface, Stupid
Dan Rosenbaum, WinMag.com: "User interface is one of those things that too many people don't think about until it's way too late. In the computer world, some people understand this: Apple, Microsoft, and Lotus have spent millions and millions developing, defining, and defending their UI. Too many Web sites, however, are designed for coolness and not for usability -- presuming there is anything thought given to design goals at all." (2000-11-19)Jef Raskin on Cooper
UIDesign.net, This is a letter from Jef Raskin about Alan Cooper's philosophy of software design. According to Raskin, Cooper "...leaves out that what we are limited by is the fundamental characteristics of humans, what we learn when we study ergonomics and cognetics. It is human capabilities that must be understood deeply, and these are as controlling in interface design as physics is in mechanical and electronic design." (2000-11-19)Retooling the tools of the trades
USA Today, Tech Report: "...people in traditionally low-tech jobs also are benefiting from the Internet and a host of newer technologies, such as global positioning satellite services and wireless products. We talked to a judge, a game warden, a winemaker, a towboat operator and others about the impact technology has had on their professions. Almost all say technology has been a blessing. Here are their stories." (2000-11-19)The Butterfly Affect
Feed Magazine: A wide ranging interview with the four principles of the Norman-Nielsen Group; Don Norman, Jakob Nielsen, Brenda Laurel and Bruce Tognazzini. The conversation ranges from the usability of the butterfly ballot to web design. (2000-11-19)The illusion of interactivity
The Irish Times: "No matter how much frantic clicking and explorative mousetrotting we do around the Internet or in a computer game, every single movement has been meticulously and mathematically preprogrammed. This leaves little room for human imagination, despite the dazzle and flash before our eyes. Although Internet technology is described in terms such as "limitless possibilities" and "ever-expanding worlds", the reality is that, due to pre-programming, creative restrictions are the norm. Humans are bound to find it increasingly difficult to be imaginatively involved in technology when such limits are imposed." (2000-11-19)Second sight
The Guardian: "The people who succeed in the device-driven networking economy of the future will be those who create applications, interfaces, and designs that conform to human need and expectation. The businesses that continue to work on strategies for "getting people to do this", or "figuring out how to make people do that" will fail as surely as WebTV." (2000-11-12)Flash: 99% Bad
Jakob Nielsen: "Although multimedia has its role on the Web, current Flash technology tends to discourage usability for three reasons: it makes bad design more likely, it breaks with the Web's fundamental interaction style, and it consumes resources that would be better spent enhancing a site's core value." (2000-11-05)Isn't technology supposed to make our lives easier?
digitalMASS: "In this Net age, the technology to do something often becomes available before the need to do that thing. The technology, in a sense, creates a need. Ten years ago, I had never heard of the World Wide Web and I had a pretty good life; now I spend hours a day working via the Web. (2000-11-05)Five Uneasy Pieces
CIO Magazine: "...technology doesn't always work as advertised. To help quiet the hype, CIO has put together its latest round of Five Uneasy Pieces. These takes offer a more skeptical perspective on a quintet of the hottest tech trends: e-marketplaces, speech recognition, wireless technology, CRM software and even the Web itself. (2000-11-05)Digital Soup
According to this Alan Cooper article "All software that uses database technology makes two simple demands of its users: First, the user must define the form of the data in advance; and second, the user must then conform to that definition. Now I will tell you two true facts about human users of software: First, they never know what they are going to want in advance; and second, if they did, they would change their mind." (2000-10-29)The Same Old Mouse Trap
In this CIO editorial about the latest information technology trend; Application Service Providers (ASP's), the anonymous author observes that "Among the more interesting claims being made about the virtues of ASPs is that instead of paying a lot of money up front for software that will soon be obsolete, companies may opt instead to pay a monthly fee to rent applications and have them run from a central location. To begin with, when was renting anything ever cheaper in the medium term or long term than buying? The fact is, what is being characterized as an ASP offering by companies such as Oracle, PeopleSoft, SAP and Siebel is nothing more than the same old software licensing deal, except that the license price (plus interest) is divided by the number of months the customer wants to use the software. (2000-10-29)Trouble in Paradise: Problems Facing the Usability Community
According to John Rhodes of webword.com "There are problems with usability and the usability community. This article is my attempt to raise some of the most important and interesting issues. In my opinion, usability as we know it is dying. It is outdated, misunderstood, and it faces very serious challenges in web and software development circles." (2000-10-22)Artificial stupidity
In this Salon.com interview, Jason Lanier contents that" "[Programmers] are sacrificing the user in order to have this fantasy that the computers are turning into creatures," he says. "These features found their way in not because developers think people want them, but because this idea of making autonomous computers has gotten into their heads." (2000-10-15)The Active Customer
According to this TheStandard.com article "...in an imperfect world of customer service, most customers prefer to cut to the chase and help themselves. They know what they want, and they want to get it as efficiently as possible." (2000-10-15)Why Great Technologies Don't Make Great Products
According to Scott Berkun of Microsoft Corporation "We all love technology. That's why we're in this industry. We have an unspoken belief that technology will save the world from all of its problems. We excel at creating technologies and packaging them into boxes or Web sites, but we often fail to put them together in ways that our customers can easily use and appreciate. Sometimes we respond with awe at things we know were hard to implement or difficult to build, without regard for the purpose they might serve. Over the years I've noticed that our love for technology doesn't always lead us in the right direction. In this column I'll try to describe the kind of thinking that's missing." (2000-10-08)The Failure of Linux: Credibility and Responsibility
According to this editorial "It's an odd fact that many of the most irrational and vociferous OS zealots are not themselves programmers (or at least not experienced ones). Linux, more than any other OS, suffers from a surfeit of testosterone-poisoned young men who know little but speak much, and the whole community suffers from it. They want things free simply because they don't want to pay." (2000-10-08)The Ideology of Ease
Journal of Electronic Publishing: "I don't think we should abandon the movement toward making computers easier to use and therefore more accessible, enjoyable, and powerful for as many people as possible. However, I do think that as ease becomes the end, rather than the means to the end, many things are set aside." (2000-09-17)Circles of Chaos
This NUA Knowledge News article by Catherine McDonnell asks the questions "Instead of looking directly at a particular subject, are we now deep in the habit of looking round and round it, in ever-increasing circles of chaos? It's always a good idea to have a broad knowledge of your subject, but is the apparently easy availability of information on the Internet going to lead to our being unable to distinguish between the real thing and information about the real thing? (2000-09-10)Unfriendly Hosts
In this CIO Magazine editorial on the unfriendliness of dialup connections. Thomas Davenport laments: "One would think that this technical problem would pale in comparison to others our society has solved. After all, we've cracked the genetic code, solved Fermat's Last Theorem and removed the blinking clock from most new VCRs. Yet dial-up communications today are no more reliable than they were when I had a Radio Shack TRS-100 at the end of my phone line." (2000-09-04)Style vs. Design
In this editorial Jeffery Zeldman laments "I worry about the medium, because not enough designers are working in that vast middle ground between eye candy and hardcore usability where most of the Web must be built. And there are fewer and fewer incentives for Web designers to toil in these fields, since this type of work pleases Web users but wins absolutely no recognition from the industry, aside from a paycheck. ("My God, it loaded so quickly and worked so well, even in IE3 on my Dad's old Dell machine." (2000-08-27)The Desktop is Dead. Deal with it...
"Listen up all you interface designers, interaction experts, user experience engineers, web graphic artistes and web usability specialists – it’s time to start over. Period. It all goes. I mean all of it. I’m not kidding here, either. We can’t blame those hyper-aggressive marketing types or over-caffeinated engineers for our problems any longer. It’s our turn to take the lead in software design. And it’s our job to keep it." (2000-08-27)Experience Design
In this "A List Apart" article, by John Locke, reports on a survey of experience designers where he found that: "designers who work in the physical world – designers of themed products and environments – have a vastly more developed theoretical base they can call on than do designers who work in the online world. While the latter have recently gotten most the ink, a lot more money and labor goes into the design of tangible objects and places intended to engender experiences." (2000-08-27)Aggregating Experience Problems delivering User Centered Design
This UIDesign.net editorial predicts that the "Big end-to-end service providers like AOL Time Warner EMI have the opportunity to use their corporate size to communicate faster and exact better control over their designs, in comparison to competitors forming loose business alliances. Consequently delivering better product with a better user experience leading to higher usage and greater revenues." (2000-08-13)Time to Bin the Big Iron
According to this UIDesign.net editorial "The user believes that when they do something from their web browser, the server at the other end receives and processes it immediately. That isn't always the case. Sometimes, it doesn't happen until tomorrow." (2000-07-30)Consumers Pay a Price for Internet Phone Convenience
According to this San Francisco Chronicle article "...many pundits and tech magazines are hyping the wireless Internet as the next big thing. But some industry players are already beginning to sense a backlash, as early users complain that it's not as simple to use a Net phone as it is to flick on their home computers." (2000-07-30)How to Tame Technology
According to this USA Today article by Marco R. della Cava "We're in a funny gap in time right now when it comes to technology," Siewiorek says. "There is a lot out there, but it all could be more user friendly. In five to 10 years, we should see a breakthrough on that front." (2000-07-15)Wireless Wonders Are Passing Fads
In this E-Commerce Times editorial Tim McDonald exclaims: "Sorry, IBM, I am nowhere near ready to wear my computer. I want my machine on the desk where it belongs, or at the very least, in my briefcase. I will not wear it as a hat. I do not want it dangling from my neck, wrist, finger or front tooth." (2000-07-09)The Winner's Circle
In the CIO Magazine article Tom Davenport laments; "Strategic focus no longer matters in many internet business models; all that matters is being on the internet and having customers." (2000-06-04)Skin Cancer: Opinion on Netscape 6
Long relegated to the back seat of the software development process in favor of ever-more useless features, usability has recently been chloroformed, hog-tied and stuffed in the trunk. Exhibit A: the newly prereleased Netscape 6. The tyranny of the skins has begun. (2000-04-16)Where Do Ideas Come From?
"There are those who will insist on coming up with something "original." We beg you to reconsider. Innovation is the refuge of the insecure, the bastion of those who lack the confidence to take something that already exists and make it better..." (2000-04-16)The Mud-Throwing Theory of Usability
It has recently become popular to design new websites and innovative Internet services with the idea to throw it at the wall and see if it sticks. The metaphor of treating design like mud supposedly leads to shorter time-to-market and thus faster success in growing the business. The assumption is that speed is everything. If the initial design has weaknesses (i.e., drops off the wall), then they can always be fixed in the redesign. (2000-04-09)The misery of Web applications
If you think people complain a lot about Windows, just wait until Web applications become more widespread -- you ain't seen nothing yet. Web applications will be about ten times as frustrating as Windows apps, and there will be no one person, like Bill Gates, to blame it on. (via webword) (2000-04-09)The Seven Stages of Web Grief
In this humorous article David Weinberger compares the five stages of grieving with the stages a company goes through in finally recognizing and accepting the important role the web. (2000-04-09)The Emperor Has Beautiful Clothes
In the six months that the Online Journalism Review has been publishing, our job has been to assess the quality of content on the Internet. Our conclusion: Much of the Web's content, with notable exceptions, lacks substance -- it does not have a deep impact on one's life. A session on the Web is like eating a meal that still leaves one hungry. (2000-04-09)Preference Does Not Equal Performance
People have a funny way of deciding when, where and how they will using something. So, a core web site design rule is that just because something looks cool and people tell you that the site is great, it doesn't mean they will spend time there or that they will buy your goods and services. If you want to do it right, you have to test your customers. (2000-04-02)Fire The Nerds
Computers are still designed for nerds by nerds. These people love computers and, deep down, they prefer power to ease-of-use. You get bragging rights for being a spreadsheet wizard, an OS troubleshooter or a virus expert. They love adding little invisible programs that run in the background and crash your system, some infecting your computers from the Web. (2000-03-19)Latest Isn't Always Greatest
The more time I spend browsing various Web sites, the angrier I get with those developers who take liberty with the amount of software I need to view their pages and navigate their site. I realize that developers want to stay on top of what is cool and unusual and eye-catching and create a site that is visually appealing, engaging and all that. But do they realize that your average member of the browsing public doesn't care at all about these things? (2000-03-19)Usability Matters
From confusing search engine results to obscure iconic navigation buttons, there are a million and one examples on the Web of, "Things That Users Don't Understand." These examples can have serious implications for the success of a web site or even the business tied to it. (via tomalak.org) (2000-03-19)Why Good Design Comes from Bad Design
The more I read about great masters in different fields, the more I see how there is a common thread in their work process. Every great writer, painter, architect, or director attributes the quality of their work to tireless discipline. When asked about their artistry, they don't point to magic or divine inspiration, but describe how many attempts they must make to create things of the quality they desire. (via tomalak) (2000-03-12)StarMedia Chief Says Content Is Not King
"A great user experience is the driver," Espuelas said. "Content is a commodity, it is a small part of the picture. The idea that content is a driver of this is flawed." (2000-03-12)The 10 Driving Principles of the New Economy
The New Economy is being driven by a profound development: Individuals and companies worldwide are being electronically linked, a process as significant as an organism developing a nervous system. So it's no surprise that the rules of the game are changing. Many of these principles have been stated before. But taken together they constitute a revolution in the rules of business. (via tomalak) (2000-03-12)Reengineering Redux: CIO Magazine Special Feature
Now the headlong rush to e-business is bringing us back to the reengineering bowl for another dip. This time, we should raise our heads and look outside the company, to our customers, partners and suppliers, and reengineer our processes into one great, efficient, internet-enabled whole, says Michael Hammer, reengineering's original pulpit-thumping guru. (2000-03-05)Long Live ERP
In this CIO Magazine editorial, Tom Davenport writes: "So before dismissing chants of 'ERP is dead, long live the internet,' I engaged in some serious, if not totally objective, thinking about whether they contained any truth. Is ERP still the business necessity it became in the 1990s? Is there something about the internet that invalidates the premise of integrated applications?" (2000-03-05)Self-Reliant Learning
Randall Kindley asks the question: Should We Eliminate the Training Department? He contends that: "Training for training's sake is passé. A self-reliant learning system is a feasible alternative to the traditional training paradigm." and that: "boundaries separating operations, training, and business functions must dissolve. Learning should be coordinated as part of a seamless activity for obtaining high performance business outcomes." (2000-02-27)Novice vs. Expert Users
According to this Jakbob Nieslen article "Web usability has traditionally been focused on increasing ease of learning for the novice users. This makes great sense and should continue to be the main goal ... but the pendulum will soon start swinging a little bit in the other direction, even if it won't swing all the way back to a single-minded focus on experts." (2000-02-13)Regarding Customers as Business Collaborators
"To succeed, Professor Prahalad said, companies will have to figure out how to experience their products as consumers experience them. They will have to understand what the customer encounters at every step, from beginning the search for a product to buying it, using it and finally disposing of it." (2000-02-13)5 Habits of Highly Effective Revolution
"The feeding frenzy surrounding the Internet looks new, and it is, at least in our lifetime. But the same patterns of behavior occurred in the development of earlier technologies, including steam engines, telegraphy, automobiles, airplanes, and radio. Investors who know something of the history of these eras can extract valuable lessons to help them understand how the Internet economy is likely to evolve. (via tomalak.org)" (2000-02-13)Friends Don't Let Friends Use AOL
"He's competent when it comes to technologies he wants to mess with -- like his digital photos. But, given a choice, he has opted not to mess with setting up an Internet account with an independent ISP. It's not that he's not capable; it's that he hasn't seen a compelling reason not to let AOL make it easy for him" (2000-02-13)Ideas to Watch
The Standard asked 20 Internet experts what they thought the Internet Economy would produce over just the next year, in areas like e-commerce, technology, policy and business strategy. (2000-02-06)It's the User, Stupid
According to this editorial "The Open Source movement has no feedback loop to end-users, and no imperative to create one. The majority of Open Source software is still written for programmer-users: the systems are made with flexibility - not usability - in mind." (2000-01-30)Letter from The Art Director of Word.com, part 2.
A follow-up letter from the Art Director of Word.com after they changed their highly artistic and graphic intensive web site to a simple Yahoo style look and feel. (2000-01-30)Letter From The Art Director at word.com
"Since the launch of Word in June 1995, after almost four and half years of web design exploration, I came to the conclusion that simplicity works the best for the Internet. Not fancy animation, not complicated nested frames, not crazy JavaScript tricks... just bare, minimal, simple HTML with gray background that is soft on the eyes." (2000-01-22)The Wrong Kind of Buzz
"Equally vague and common are platform, open, environment and support when used as verbs. A veterinarian using TechnoLatin might say that a dog serves as a platform for sniffing, is an open environment for fleas and supports barking." (2000-01-22)Happy New Year: innovate or die
According to this Red Herring article; "...a new study bears proof that more than ever, today's mantra is innovate or die. Consequently, America's corporations have decided to ante up. Across diverse industries in the new year, corporations plan to increase spending on research and development to a new high, $187.2 billion, a jump of 10.6 percent over the previous year." (2000-01-16)The Importance Of Usability
According to this bizmonthly.com article "Over the past 15 years, our lives have been increasingly altered by the application of technology. Because of this, more and more people with a variety of backgrounds are exposed to new products. Sadly, that which could make our lives easier and more productive frequently frustrates us because the product's design has not incorporated technology in a way that delivers what it promised. And that often makes us angry and stressed." (2000-01-16)Leading Edge Risks
"Successful information technology innovators are like racehorse gamblers who like long odds. They're the early implementers of groundbreaking technologies, the beta sites that start rolling out a new product before it ships, the first customers of exciting start-ups with shaky funding. Their visionary CIOs have made innovation not just an occasional last-resort practice but an intrinsic part of the corporate culture" (2000-01-16)Goodbye Problems, Hello Benefits
According to this Don Norman editorial: "We've been at this IT stuff long enough. It's time to forget about exciting, cool technology with its concomitant breakdowns, frustrations, and bugs. Instead, let's focus on the benefits, services, and results of all this technology. After all, we want technology that just works and is taken so much for granted that we won't even know it's there--like sewers and the electrical wiring in our homes." (2000-01-10)Wise up, you elitists: The Web's for everyone now
"Simplicity? Obviousness (i.e., clarity)? Don't those sound like pretty good goals for any interaction, with any customer, in any medium? If your Web site has one of those arty welcome screens or features lots of JavaScript parlor tricks, I've got news for you: Plenty of consumers are blowing right past already. Even a Ph.D. with a $100 bill sticking out his ear has better things to do than look at your award-winning splash screen." (2000-01-10)