[Sigia-l] "Usability Must Die"?

[Dr. Pittas Marios]

Ziya

Hardly a need to defend usability or its processes as the kind of attention
that it has received in the main stream press, not so long ago, came from
real world examples rather than advocates of usability.

I find the web pages "interesting", as I have just been reading "Measuring
Usability: Preference vs. Performance" by Jakob Neilsen and Jonathan Levy..
@ Communications of the ACM, April 1994 Vol. 37, no. 4.

In the article's conclusions they state:

"There is strong positive association between users' average task
performance and their average subjective satisfaction, and one has a
reasonably large chance of success if one chooses between interfaces based
solely on users' opinions. Even so, there are still many cases in which
users prefer systems that are measurably worse for them, so one should
exercise caution."

and later..

"The main practical implication of this article is that users' opinions and
preferences are valuable data that should be taken into account when
choosing between user interface designs."

Talking to users is great. Testing with users is exceptionally great!!!

Marios

-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org]On Behalf Of
Listera
Sent: 18 October 2002 04:18
To: sigia-l
Subject: [Sigia-l] "Usability Must Die"?


    * Usability is a tool that should be in the kit of all software
designers/programmers. It only became a profession when people found they
could charge £1,000 a day by calling themselves Usability Engineers and
pontificate on the mysteries of 'ease of use'.

    * Experience Design is just Web Usability that is charged out at a 25%
premium, and is the first destination of the rats fleeing the good ship
Usability.

    * It is no longer about Human Computer Interaction, but has degenerated
into a narrow field that only talks about guidelines and patterns for web
page design, and is obsessed by abandoned shopping trolleys (or carts).

    * It has succeeded in bringing the user out of their box, but has only
gone as far as putting them behind a one-way mirror where they can be viewed
and examined like animals in a zoo.

    * It is used as a battleground where 'web designers' argue with 'proper
programmers' about when it is acceptable to use Flash.

    * We are allowing it to be used as a wedge to divide the different
groups who are involved in creating software systems.

    * It has been subsumed by the corporate design process which is used to
take control away from designers/programmers and put it in the hands of the
marketeers.

Join the backlash now and help turn the software world upside down.

    * Lets put the people using our software at the heart of everything we
do instead of just paying lip service to the primacy of the mythical user.

    * Remember the three Ps:
      Its always about People, and it should always be done with Passion.

says Chris McEvoy (a programmer who loves HCI but hates Web Usability) at:

<http://www.usabilitymustdie.com/>

Best,

Ziya



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