NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #16/NN_1992_16.iso/spool/comp/software/2993

Internet Message Format | 1992-07-29 | 5.9 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!wupost!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!mips!mips!munnari.oz.au!metro!basser.cs.su.oz.au!minnie!timc
From: [e-mail] (Tim Brabin Cooper)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: The Hot Designer
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 29 Jul 92 03:53:49 GMT
Sender: timc@minnie (Tim Brabin Cooper)
Organization: Basser Dept of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Australia
Lines: 113


The Hot Designer
================

    All of ELDA and associates was excited about a new interface-
designer/programmer whizz-kid who just joined the firm.

    He took immediate command of the design of their new Video Rental
System. After a week he had the design finalised, and within several months
the prototype was ready.

    The marketing manager had a few points to make about the product
when he saw it.
    'All these functions in the first menu are rarely used, and there's
these other functions we need to use a lot that are hidden away!'

    The new kid sat down, and carefully explained why the things had
to be organised that way. After ten minutes, the marketing guy was
feeling quite numb. He told him, 'Oh - I understand now.' - even though
he didn't.

    One of the customers who was beta-testing the program phoned up
with some complaints. He said,
    'I must be stupid or something, but I don't 'get' this program.
I always get a different menu each time I use it!'

    The whizz-kid patiently explained to him about the new user-
adapting feature where the program moulds itself to fit the user. The
customer eventually decided that he had an extremely good program, but
he just wasn't smart enough to keep up with it.

    Later, the kid was sent a memo asking to meet in half an hour
with the boss to discuss the interface and the memo.
    He set to work writing down all the justifications for
everything he had designed. Then, armed with all this ammunition, he
left to see the boss.

    'I want the menus completely re-designed.' the boss told him.
The kid took out all his notes, but before he could open his mouth,
the boss said, 'It's your job to design the interface. I don't care
how you do it, just make it quicker & easier to use.'

    The kid went back to his room and had a hard think about it.
He spent several days re-designing the menus. One day the cleaner was
cleaning his room, and suggested he use a command-line interface as
an alternative to the menus, because that was the fastest thing of all.
    The Kid had actually been asked to rearrange the menus, so he
didn't give this suggestion much thought.

    One day a junior from a video shop rang up and suggested he
put a calculator program into the program. He spent the next week and
a half writing this, and at the end the program had a brand-new
calculator feature.
    This junior was very pleased about that, however, he had to
call several days later to complain about the printer not working.
    'Check your printer configuration file,' said the kid.
'Where do I find that?' asked the junior. The kid explained to him that
all the necessary information was displayed on the screen all the time,
and after waiting (in vain) to see if he could find it himself, he
pointed out that it was in-between the 2nd Status Line and the Copyright
notice. The kid had been very pleased about his screen design - it had
been like a jigsaw puzzle to get everything to fit on the screen.
    Eventually they worked out that the print head was probably
broken, so the shop sent the printer off the get repaired. The repair
place sent it back with a note saying that it should be switched on before
trying to use it.

    A week after that, the hundredth customer called up to complain
about the menus.
    The kid patiently explained, for the hundredth time, that
in order to avoid clashes with what keys mean what functions, the
'Rental' function and 'Return' function and 'Reservation' function had
to be in sub-menus 2 levels deep, and they couldn't be put together
because every function in a menu must have a different initial.
'Can't you do something?' they asked.
'No,' he said. 'You don't know what the average users is like. I do. They'll
be totally thrown if I change the menus at this stage.'
'Oh....' they said, 'I see.'

    The Marketing Manager told the Kid that the program should have
a keystroke record facility, so the users could re-use common sequences
of keystrokes.
    The Kid went to his room and thought about this. He tried to
think of all the reasons it couldn't be done, and eventually he came up
with sufficient reasons. He returned to the Marketing Manager.
    'The way input works at the moment...' he began. Ten minutes
later he said, '....so you see, keystroke recording is just not feasible
within the framework of this system.'
    'But other systems have it,' argued the Marketing Manager,
feeling rather stupid.
'Haven't you been listening to anything I've said?' said the Kid in
exasperation. 'Shall I go through the reasons again?'
    'Spare me!' cried the Marketing Manager. 'OK! I believe you!'

    The boss eventually decided to show the user a usability study
of his software. They paid a university undergraduate $5 an hour to try
out the program.
    The person was having a great deal of trouble with it. The
kid was getting more and more frustrated as he saw him struggling with
the program. Eventually the kid ripped the keyboard out of his hands, and
calmly showed him how to use it. The undergraduate apologised for being
a little slow and said that they could keep the $5. 'I don't feel that
I have earned it,' he said.

    The boss eventually took the Kid aside and said to him,
'I don't think you have the right attitude to your tasks,'.
    'No - you're wrong', said the kid, 'I don't think you're trying
to understand what I'm trying to do here.  I'm trying to build the best
Video Rental System ever. Why don't you let the experts do their job -
don't let the user inexperienced in software design dictate the design!
That's a recipe for disaster.'
    The Kid left that month, figuring that he would take his talents
somewhere where it was appreciated more.