[Sigia-l] "Getting the design right, and getting the right design"

[Ziya Oz]

Jonathan Baker-Bates:

> "We need to discover what users need before the project starts, for once
> started, the direction has already been determined."

> That sound you just heard were my fuses blowing.

Don Norman called and wants an explanation. He asked why you'd object to the
preceding paragraph:

"Usability testing is like Beta testing of software. It should never be used
to determine "what users need." It is for catching bugs, and so this kind of
usability testing still fits the new, iterative programming models, just as
Beta testing for software bugs fits the models. I have long maintained that
any company proud of its usability testing is a company in trouble, just as
a company proud of its Beta testing is in trouble. UI and Beta testing are
meant simply to find bugs, not to redesign."

Do we divide this process into two:

Alpha == architecture/design
Beta == usability?

----
Ziya

The constraint is the design.