Re: Hard to Revise a UI?

Subject: Re: Hard to Revise a UI?
From: Nancy Allison <maker -at- verizon -dot- net>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:24:47 -0400

Thank you, everyone, for these great responses! They are exactly what I need, and I especially appreciate the explanations about modular software and workflow.

If you can ever think of particular software examples, please let me know. I have one doozy to relate: an interface that practically begged the user to enter a command that rammed a $200 laboratory-grade plastic robotic supper hand into the bench, snapping off the point and incapacitating the entire system!

In that case, I was able to bully the engineer into removing that command from the UI, but that was unusual. And, it was done purely on a personal basis; there was no method in that company for raising such an issue through channels. Madness!

I'll look into the names you mention, (esp. Cooper. I read his "The Inmates are Running the Asylum.") I always wonder where writers like Cooper get their great examples, and I'm always trying to collect my own.

A final question. Is it really burdensome to change the wording in a UI? If a prompt is vaguely worded, or if something is misspelled, is it very hard for a developer to correct it? I was once told that a change I proposed would be "too expensive." It involved changing the wording in a single popup box, and it would have made a huge difference to the usability of the UI.

Is it really that hard to change a text string? (I think I know the answer . . . .)

Thanks again!

--Nancy

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Follow-Ups:

References:
Hard to Revise a UI: From: Nancy Allison
Hard to Revise a UI?: From: Geoff Hart

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