[Sigia-l] My card sorting book is underway!

[Karl Fast]

> "In the age of dynamic applications (vs. page-based, form-driven,
> navigation-heavy web *sites*), widgets, task-driven flows, small
> services for mobiles, etc., it's a bit of an anachronism."

So true! To hell with the non-digital. To hell with anachronisms,
especially anachronistic tools and technologies. Those throwbacks,
those reminders of what designers used once upon a stone-age time.

I say let's get rid of paper and pens and pencils. 

And whiteboards, which are evil, except for the smelly pens because
you can get a nice buzz going if you've got enough of them and you
breath deeply.

And walls. Who needs to spread things out on walls? What's the value
of an entire wall when you've got a 30" LCD widescreen monitor? 

And those damned post-it notes are annoying, smugly ubiquitious in
spite of their wimpy glue and cutesy colors. I've got software
sticky notes and let me tell you, they are *so* much better.

And graph paper, which I have always loathed--it only brings back
memories of chemistry labs and being rushed to the emergency room.
Just turn on the grid in Visio. Voila, instant graph paper!

And index cards. How can something from the era of the card
catalogue, that antiquated tool, have any value in this modern,
sophisticated, digitally-enlightened era? Answer: they can't. They
just mislead people into thinking that card sorting is a good idea.

And don't get me started about paper prototyping, not unless you
want to see me really froth and foam at the mouth.

In short, how can any of these pre-digital anochronisms be of any
use in developing the digital future?

Except, of course, for the fact that most designers find these tools
pretty damned useful, despite being anachronisms.



BTW, if you don't appreciate my sarcastic wail and would prefer
actual evidence about the value of anachronisms like paper, I
recommend reading "The Myth of the Paperless Office" by Sellen &
Harper. 


-- 
Karl Fast
http://www.livingskies.com/