[Sigia-l] We could just use whiteboards instead.

[Listera]

"Anne Miller" wrote:

> Which in my view is why the 100% digital prototyping argument is misguided.
> [...]
> Users as a group generally cant sit in front of a digital
> prototying tool - the keyboard operator takes over.

In case it was misunderstood, I never advocated digital prototypes be
created by users. On the contrary, I stated many times that I'm not a
proponent of 'design by users' at all. Just as the Microsoft security
example I posted earlier shows, it's not easy, and in many cases virtually
impossible, to get users to decide on far-reaching and technical issues like
scalability, security, learnability, memorability, etc. That's why we have
professional designers/developers making learned judgments and calculated
bets. For exactly the same reasons, we have doctors/surgeons interviewing
patients but not letting them diagnose/operate on themselves.

> Users can of course work as a group with butchers paper, whiteboards and other
> lo-fi materials. When group processes are managed and facilitated designers
> can get a sense of variability in purposes and in conceptualisations.

Yeah, they can also blame users when things go south, just like Microsoft
did with their approach to security: users made us do it! I sure wouldn't
want my movies designed by focus groups, either. Eventually, the buck stops
with the designer. I am willing to take on the responsibility.

> Its here in my view that the opportunities for innovation lie.

I'm aware of very few innovations concocted by a committee, which the
'design by users' approach comes perilously close to.

To repeat, you listen to and observe users [1], you don't let them design.
That's what *we* get paid to do.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba 

[1] Except for the narrow case of intranets, those people with the post-its
and crayons on the "team" are not even the actual users of apps we create.