[Sigia-l] Re: Design(ers) [was: is bad design a choice?]

[Arthur Fink]

At 02:05 PM 10/17/2005, Jared M. Spool wrote:

>And we can't really substantiate the claim that improving design will help 
>the business in some sort of way. It feels like it should, but do we know 
>for a fact that it does?
. . .
>So, before we be condemnin' eBay as "bad design", maybe we oughta be clear 
>on what that actually means. Certainly, before we go gettin' all 
>high-and-mighty about that good vs. bad design thingy.

As usual, Jared jars us with an irreverent truth!

Like all of you, I'd like the site to exemplify MY aesthetic, to simplify 
MY navigation, and make it easiest to do things MY way.  Surely, Arthur 
Fink should have been the only personna considered in the site 
design.  And, yes, I really would like the site to be configurable so that 
it works better for me ... but there is more.

I recall hearing a lecture on the design of (physical) garden centers ... 
how they were supposed to be a maze, so that somebody had to walk through 
most of the store to get from the entrance to the exit.  That's not my 
notion of efficiency, but it may be somebody else's way of trying to 
extract that impulse buy from me.

Now, having said that, will the real eBay please be fixed to include ...

Arthur Fink

      ARTHUR FINK Consulting  arthur at arthurfink.com
      ---------------------------------------------
       Ten New Island Avenue  Listening to users
   Peaks Island, Maine 04108  Designing for people
          www.ArthurFink.com  User interfaces that work
207.766.5722  cell 615.5722  Progress training + consulting