User Interface Engineering and Usability
The Bitter Truth for Critics
It is so easy to criticize someone else’s work. Give me any website and I can find ways to improve it. But critics need to acknowledge and respect what the creators have done regardless of whether or not it’s perfect. I was reminded of this while watching Ratatouille with my children on the 4th of July.Anton Ego, Ratatouille (2007)In many ways the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and themselves to our judgement. We thrive on negative criticism which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.In 10 words or less, what is software design to you?
At the end of a recent interview, the candidate asked me “What is software design to you?” I can probably come up with a thousand different answers but the one that popped into my mind immediately that day was “software design is making the ordinary extraordinary.” Okay, so maybe it won’t get me a mention in Businessweek, but what I was trying to capture and communicate was that software design in particular is largely about taking unglamorous tools and making them functionally robust and efficient, rewarding to use, and aesthetically pleasing. We aren’t artists, but we are creatives. We aren’t rocket scientists, but we’re smart and talented. And every day we have to use our creativity, smarts and talent to design the best tools for people to use. So I’m interested… in 10 words or less, what is software design to you?In 10 words or less, what is software design to you?
At the end of a recent interview, the candidate asked me “What is software design to you?” I can probably come up with a thousand different answers but the one that popped into my mind immediately that day was “software design is making the ordinary extraordinary.” Okay, so maybe it won’t get me a mention in Businessweek, but what I was trying to capture and communicate was that software design in particular is largely about taking unglamorous tools and making them functionally robust and efficient, rewarding to use, and aesthetically pleasing. We aren’t artists, but we are creatives. We aren’t rocket scientists, but we’re smart and talented. And every day we have to use our creativity, smarts and talent to design the best tools for people to use. So I’m interested… in 10 words or less, what is software design to you? Enter more than one if you like (as seperate comments).Where is the Sign In on Amazon.com?
Is it just me or does it seem strange that there is no Sign In on Amazon.com’s homepage?
Each time I visit amazon.com, and I visit too often, if I’m not already logged in, I stumble looking for the Sign In link. I would expect the “Sign In” text at the top of the page to be a link taking me to a Sign In form. Or even better to automatically display a Sign In form on the homepage. But instead you are required to click on something that would only be available to you once you ARE signed in - e.g. “personalized recommendations”, “Your Lists”, “Your Account”, etc.
This seems like such a fundamental flaw that it had to be done on purpose. But why? Why break with convention and force people to take an extra cognitive step because of unexpected behavior? Did they conduct usability studies and find that this was superior somehow? I’m very curious…
