Friday 4/16/2004
Design

Jeff

interesting: http://daringfireball.net/2004/04/spray_on_usability

Jon

I read that; it sums up a few of my feelings on the matter pretty well. 1) what problem are we trying to solve 2) for whom, and 3) who will be doing the work? How can we help person 3 do task 1 in a way that will satisfy both person 3 and 2?

Jeff

i think from my perspective, it brings to light our (programmers with programmer mentality) inexperience with user interfaces

Jeff

we (developer-oriented thinkers) tend to believe that we can do it “better than average” when in fact most of us REALLY suck at it, we just skate by on copying what has been done by people who really are “better than average”

Jeff

also reinforces the idea that it really is hard fricken work to design stuff well :)

Jon

I’ve never found an interface that I liked that I could have built thinking of it in a programmatic way, or applying a methodology; it’s iterative, recursive, a design problem in the truest sense. The thing usually missing is pre-testing, prototype testing. There’s never time for that, it seems; everyone wants to build first and ask questions (or fail to) later

Jeff

it is also somewhat difficult for us, who were not raised on computers, but learned computers after learning many other gadget type things

Jon

Really? I would think it would be easier

Jeff

well, we are trying to be “intuitive”… but how is it kids can figure things out so easily… i imagine when some of these kids who were raised on computers get to our age, they may have some better ideas, because their thinking wasnt molded by the same technological “advances” as ours

Jeff

but then again, the converse may also be true, where that predisposition to current UI in computers would mold them into the same “bad” habits

Jon

What with all of the simpler, single-purpose “interfaces” we’ve grown up with and all of the “real-world interface metaphors” to draw upon, you’d think “intuituve” would be easier, but the real problem is that intuitive is the wrong word

Jeff

yes, it is

Jeff

which i finally understand :)

Jon

Plasticity helps kids adapt more readily; experience helps us make decisions, if we can just get away from the prejudice that comes with (and the ego)