[Sigia-l] Comment - The New Nielson

[Listera]

>> Usability (or lack thereof) is a relative term. Given (artificially)
>> restricted options, people get used to just about anything. Witness an OS

> this is not entirely true.

> We think of Windows as not usable when it's actually just difficult and
> unpleasant. 

Speak for yourself :-)

> it's all relative...

Yep:  "Usability (or lack thereof) is a relative term."

> Complex does lead to higher consulting fees, though.

Now you're talking. One of my pet peeves.

Complex is a relative term, too. Complex, as in "many features/capabilities"
or as in "just too darn difficult to grasp".

There's an application design/development philosophy that relies on "complex
= marketing". All those incredibly obtuse CRM/KM/EIA/etc apps (and
practically anything 'enterprise' from a northwestern company) are actually
designed to be intentionally complex. Instead of marketing directly to
endusers, they target an infinitely smaller group, developers, which is of
course much cheaper and manageable.

If you go to developer seminars (say for a new product intro or a revision)
the app vendor will actually come out say how all this complexity is really
good for the developers'/consultants' bottom line. In those people, the
vendor has essentially an army of thousands as in-the-field sales reps
knocking on corporate doors. Their interests are aligned. Like generic
drugs, you won't see consultants or consulting companies pushing simple (as
in less complex, cheaper or free) solutions.

As an example, take XML: a simple, powerful notion. And consider the
unbelievable, almost pornographic explosion of complexity built as a
mini-industry on top of it.

You're right, of course, complexity pays :-)

Best,

Ziya