[Sigia-l] Visio not usable?

[Chris Chandler]

"Listera" wrote:

> Either I've learned nothing about UI/workflow design in two decades or you
> haven't tried to use alternatives to Visio and PowerPoint, which you
> consider paragons of ease-of-use. Either way, I'm afraid we don't have a
> common ground to discuss this much further.


I'll say!

Since I have tried, and in fact regularly use alternatives to Visio and PowerPoint, I guess you haven't learned anything
about UI/workflow design in two decades!!

I disagree with things you have to say on a regular basis, but they generally make some kind of sense.

If I look for "Visio 2002" at amazon -- instead of the inept search you did which results included visio editions going
back a decade or so, most of them out of print and/or not even ABOUT the software program (see result #64 for example:
"Camarasa visió : la vila al pas del temps
(1890-1994)" by Llorenç Sànchez i Vilanova, but hey, who needs librarians when search is so great, right?), I find 18
results.

Considering the vast number of different types of users of visio -- why do you think there are more users of iTunes than
visio? -- and the fact that most of the "variety" of visio books comes from different presses pumping out their own
versions of "visio for dummies", I'd say your cute quip doesn't really pan out.

You do raise an interesting question (well, actually, as usual you just state your opinion as fact, but we're used to
that) about whether it is a bad thing that visio is used by network admins, .NET developers, UML diagrammers, interior
designers, IA's etc. etc. Personally, while I think I agree with the principle, in my own experience, the fact that
every shop I've ever worked at has had Visio readily at hand has been quite useful.

-cc