belated wisdom for the week
9 May 2008 03:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaigouIf there is ever any experience that should remind website and applications developers that they ignore the current site or application at their peril, it should be the experience of test-driving new cars. Even the most open-minded and innovative person turns into a two-year old when test driving. The steering column is too small. The dashboard's not the same. Where's the damn A/C button? Holy crap, I just sent the radio's volume to eighty, and I just wanted to change stations! Why won't the boot open?
Whine, whine, whine, and it all boils down to: this isn't what I'm used to.
It's amazing to me -- considering I've spent a good part of my life listening to people gripe about such things in terms of interfaces -- that sometimes I come so close to forgetting that. Theoretically change is good... but only if it's subtle, and intelligent, change. It must actually improve something. Otherwise, it's just an annoying distraction that constitutes nothing more than having to learn a new, if equally inefficient, habit. And why waste time on that? Just keep with the same old inefficient habits, and save your energy for adapting to a change that's truly worthwhile.
*goes back to whining about wheelbases and torque and suspensions*
Maybe the next time I deal with developers or clients pushing so hard for fancy-schmancy new tech for no reason other than it's flashy... I should arrange to meet at a nearby car dealership and force them all to adopt the mindset that they must purchase a new car, and to test-drive with that in mind. Let's see how much they complain about the new not pleasing them as much as the old, unh-hunh.
(Not that I'd expect it to really bring them to their senses, but at least I'd be amused in the meantime.)
Whine, whine, whine, and it all boils down to: this isn't what I'm used to.
It's amazing to me -- considering I've spent a good part of my life listening to people gripe about such things in terms of interfaces -- that sometimes I come so close to forgetting that. Theoretically change is good... but only if it's subtle, and intelligent, change. It must actually improve something. Otherwise, it's just an annoying distraction that constitutes nothing more than having to learn a new, if equally inefficient, habit. And why waste time on that? Just keep with the same old inefficient habits, and save your energy for adapting to a change that's truly worthwhile.
*goes back to whining about wheelbases and torque and suspensions*
Maybe the next time I deal with developers or clients pushing so hard for fancy-schmancy new tech for no reason other than it's flashy... I should arrange to meet at a nearby car dealership and force them all to adopt the mindset that they must purchase a new car, and to test-drive with that in mind. Let's see how much they complain about the new not pleasing them as much as the old, unh-hunh.
(Not that I'd expect it to really bring them to their senses, but at least I'd be amused in the meantime.)
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Date: 9 May 2008 11:08 pm (UTC)Has there been attempts to make cross software comparisons with similar applications yet?
I suspect I'll be having headaches for months over this...
I don't know if I'd bother to buy it, but I think there should be books about the process of successfully getting through these kinds of problems from people who have been there. It might be pretty useful for other designers, so I think it might be a good idea if you and other involved in these things eventually write and publish about it.