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Not to be too adversarial, but a great many programmers that I've worked
with were far more than pencil-necked, eyeglass-taped computer geeks who
related better to technology than to people, as you're implying when you
say that programmers "think more about the technology" than the usability.
My point in replying to Alan's post and to yours is to suggest that your
sweeping generalizations are not only inaccurate, they're
counter-productive. If your goals are to make the product more usable,
you'll accomplish that much better by respecting the work of your
co-workers, rather than disparaging them or their efforts. That's basic
diplomacy.
Don't get me wrong... there are problem programmers out there designing
crap. I've documented a lot of their stuff. But don't lump all
programmers together under the heading of "The Problem." Many of them
(and I've happily documented their stuff, too) are not only excellent
software designers, but they accept feedback well, too.
It would be more useful for this discussion of ours to suggest ways to
provide feedback that will be heard, and to try to avoid setting up an
Us-and-Them conflict.
----->Mike
On 7/7/1999 12:11 PM, Pierre Roberge (proberge -at- FAMICTECH -dot- COM) wrote:
>What Alan is saying is that programmers think obviously more about the
>technology and doing so they organize the interface so that it fits the way
>the software is built instead of organizing the interface so that it fits
>the way the users work.
>
>Having a techwriter suggest another word here and there has a positive
>impact on the overall quality of an interface but a way bigger impact could
>be had if the interface were the responsibility of a non technical person.
>
>Working with programmers to design an interface is like working with inmates
>to design an asylum. They have their own not so hidden agenda.
>
>See "The inmates are running the asylum" by Alan Cooper.
