[Sigia-l] Human-Centered Design 99% bad

[Alexander Johannesen]

Ok, last rounds ;

Me:
> > Now let me put this in a very clear way : I do not believe that HCD
> > is about tools adapting to users *because* there is no manual that
> > states "HCD basic belief is tools adapting to user";
 
Boniface Lau <boniface_lau at compuserve.com> wrote:
> On such basic issue, experienced HCD practitioners would refer to
> their own experience, instead of a manual,

... which *is* my point. Hence the irony of the manual ...

> to decide whether they
> would be a believer. If they decided to be a non-believer, they would
> remain so even when faced with a manual containing such statement.
> That is because one's experience has much more authority than that of
> a manual, _if_ one is indeed an experienced HCD practitioner. Thus,
> basing one's belief on the absence of a manual is a dead giveaway that
> such self-proclaimed HCD practitioner is not as experienced as
> claimed.

You're stuck, aren't you? Of course there is no manual; There are
*bucketloads* of books and guidelines and manuals and bibles and
scriptures and talks and presentations on the subject, both good and
bad, all different, all preaching and doing things slightly different.
There is no *one* answer.

"The HCD manual" (and note the "The") is a metaphor for what most
practitioners would think. What you claim is a dead giveaway is just
pure nonsense; I don't see your basic belief in that metaphorical
manual, and I asked you for references which you didn't provide.

You certainly can't know what most HCD practitioners claim to be their
basic belief, just like I can't. I would say that holding on to black
and white beliefs are the opposite of HCD. We follow the consensus
*and* our experiences; where in the concensus does it state "HCD
believes that tool should adapt to user"?

> On the authority of being me. I speak for myself and express what I
> believed to be the reality.

Glad you pointed that out, because I was wondering if you were the HCD
police there for a moment.

> But if you care to look around, you will see that a widely
> shared characteristic within the HCD population is the belief of
> adapting to user.

Here is a hammer. Peter wants to open his mail with this hammer. Do
you adapt the hammer to Peter, or do you design a letter-opener? And
don't say "use a knife" because that's not what Peter wants.

*grumble* Why is everything so black and white with you?


Alex
-- 
"Ultimately, all things are known because you want to believe you know."
                                                         - Frank Herbert
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