The Digital Revolution is about usability
Very regularily I find myself talking on the phone to friends and family trying to explain how to successfully complete a task using any of our favorite toys: PCs, VCRs, DVRs, mobile phones, PDAs, WLAN routers, DSL modems, etc. Just recently while attending DLD06 in Munich I was dining with friends when I got a call from my mother who needed to burn a CD. Or today my sister called because she needed to format a Word document in a certain way. It's not that I mind helping. But I am still waiting for my first phone support incident involving a fridge, or a microwave, a washing machine, or a cordless phone. Somehow those things just work. Plug and play. No questions asked.
So why then is burning files onto a CD-ROM so much more complicated than cooking vegetables in a microwave ofen? All I need to know when driving a car from A to B is what type of gasoline it needs. (Well, at least that's true as long as the car doesn't come with iDrive.) Why do I need to learn about ports, port forwarding, NAT, DMZ, UPnP and DHCP when all I want is using Wi-Fi at home? I want my parents to be able to simply "burn this file or directory onto a CD-ROM", no questions asked. (Because they really don't care about burn speeds, multisession, or ISO images. And, no, they don't need little animated helper icons either.)
Why can't mobile operators sell phones that come preconfigured for data apps? Didn't they promise an ever increasing growth in mobile data services? As a starter, they should make sure that any phone that leaves their stores is configured properly. The operators shouldn't force my dad to learn about APNs, configuration SMS and GPRS when all he wants to do is send a picture from his camera phone. What's up with having to send a MMS from your phone to your phone in order to activate MMS usage?* What genius came up with such an idea?
There's a reason that Joe Normal doesn't have a clue about RSS and content syndication. The mountain is still too high to climb. That's why I am actually looking forward to RSS integration in Microsoft Vista as it will expose RSS to the masses.
Most modern interfaces still suffer from bad usability. And you don't need to rely on Jakob Nielsen to figure out that even very successful applications like iTunes fail terribly when it comes to application logic and UI concepts (often driven by business decisions). Just two examples: You can't use iTunes to simply copy an audio file to your iPod if the file hasn't been added to the library. You need to know a lot about video formats and encoding if you want to fully enjoy your video iPod. Why?
If we believe that the "next big thing" is about user-generated content, we need to make sure the tools are easy to use and let you complete core tasks without having to call a geek.
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*common practice of German mobile operators
Why is it that everybody starts talking about UI design again just as of recently? Even Joel 'Don't mention Web 2.0 while I'm around' Spolsky just started to mumble about design again.
If this is the post quality we are about to see once you are fully at Burda then I am getting even happier you are going. :)
By the way, a wise man once said:
The only intuitive interface is the nipple. After that, it's all learned. - Bruce Ediger
I don't think that you can really build an intuitive interface to something that is a new concept. I remember talking to somebody about their new CD Burner and the problem started with the difference of copying and burning. I mean since when do you burn files?
You said: "burn this file or directory onto a CD-ROM"
Ok, burn? And I thought I need a CD Burner to burn CDs. What does the CD-ROM drive have to do with it now. I thought we replaced that with the CD Burner. And how can I open a directly, which I am unsure of what it is (do you mean the Briefcase?) in word?
Stuff is rather complicated unless you use the same terms over and over again while removing options.
>> All I need to know when driving a car from A to B is what type of gasoline it needs UI should be intuitive - but some processes are so complicated, people will have to literally learn it - and they do like e.g. with ticketboxes at stations or parket spaces.
The challenge for a designer is, to anticipate and translate the worlds of the user and technology.
Well, all I can say is, "See? I told ya so!" Then again, you know that--you've had to listen to me preach this stuff since '99.
it's not about creating a better user interface per se...it's about creating a more appropriate interaction. Apple continues to "get it"--they understand the functions and features to add, and which ones to take away. Microsoft never met a technological feature it didn't like...or didn't add.
Oh--and Tiger has had RSS integration as well as full integrated searching since last year.
Usability? It'll be incorporated when CIOs don't rule the $$ trail.
Tiger is not the mass market. Windows is.
And for the usability - absolutly agree. Which is why for example I like the AVM products. Preconfigured to usefull settings (like if you have a pbx, all connectors are by default ringing if a number is called and not just the first), okay manual and setting up is easy.
Phones? I don't do mobile stuff. Why? I don't have time or energy to go through that stuff. And I am the geek in my family.
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