[Sigia-l] Exhibit A

[Christopher Fahey]

>> The end result of all this is what finally shipped: the 
>> lowest common denominator, the simplest and least 
>> controversial option.
>
> I point this out not to bash MSFT (way too easy :-) but to 
> underline the hypocrisy and utter incompetence of an 
> organization that sets "best practices" for the rest of the 
> software industry.


Ah! This is where the "benevolent dictator" model of software design comes
in.

A smart and extremely senior person at Microsoft should be using Vista every
day, listening to a few members of the design team as they walk him through
the UI and the logic behind the design decisions, then make swift and bold
decisions about the UI based on her or his deep understanding of design,
quality, user experience, and business vision. 

Apple has a person like this. His name is Steve Jobs.

I really doubt usability testing would have helped much in this example at
all: Such research would almost certainly have shown that the interface was
hard to use and error-prone to some degree, and that every one of those
shutdown options was useful to some important customer type. The only
question would have been to what degree this interface sucks. Only a single
person can make the final decision to remove or combine features to make it
easier for some users while deliberately forcing other users to adapt to it.
The 80/20 rule is purely a business and design decision. 

It sounds to me like MS's senior management has basically abdicated user
experience accountability (if they ever had it) and relegated it to middle
management. 

Another reason why I think someday an IA will work their way up to CEO. 

Great story, Ziya. 

-Cf

Christopher Fahey
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