Monday, December 20, 2004

Big and little are just relative Kevin at OK/Cancel says the user experience community is thinking too big. Christina Wodtke says the user experience community is thinking too small. Lou seconds Christina's points: "You Aren't Your Title". Great posting on Elegant Hack, Christina Wodtke's blog: "The User Experience Community is Thinking Too Small". Christina reminds us to stop sniping about who owns UX and focus on working together and designing good stuff. Amen. I'm also tired of tiffs on titles and turf. Everyone should read Christina's posting and then make a New Year's resolution to pledge some spare cycles to UXnet, a volunteer effort which is actually trying to address these issues in a positive, constructive manner.... [Bloug] Now, I thought it was pretty useful that, at the BayDUX event in October to which Christina refers, Don Norman suggested that it doesn't matter what discipline you come from if your position is that of project manager. Someone has to be in charge, and as long as that person either has the requisite skills or includes other people with the requisite skills on the team, the titles don't matter. Which sounds good to me, but what do I know? I just think the idea of working in collaborative teams sounds pretty darned good (which is one of the reasons that I'm leaving PeopleSoft in favor of IBM, where they do such things). 3:22:30 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

If they want my opinion. . . Fast Company wants to know what you think Micro$oft should do: Poll Position: Open Microsoft. Q: What's the best way Microsoft can become more innovative? [Fast Company] At last glance, the poll is running about 60% in favor of "listen to customers." But, if I recall correctly, many of the statements from Redmond about why, for instance, so many security holes exist in Microsoft's products, it's because customers want the features that create the holes, like being able to open, and even execute, files within Outlook. They already believe that they're listening to customers and addressing customer needs. Maybe what Microsoft really needs to do is to give customers what they need, not what they ask for. There's a huge difference. Which probably relates to Don Norman's statement (which I can't find just now, so I'll paraphrase) that you shouldn't solve the problem as originally stated (or as presented by the client), because it's not really the problem that requires solving. What Microsoft needs to do, IMHO, is to lose the hubris and arrogance, stop assuming that they know best, and find out--and address--what customers really need. 3:17:24 PM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

QOTD "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." Groucho Marx. [Quotes of the Day] 11:47:20 AM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

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