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

[Jonathan Baker-Bates]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: sigia-l-bounces at asis.org 
> [mailto:sigia-l-bounces at asis.org] On Behalf Of Ziya Oz
> Sent: 17 June 2007 02:45
> To: SIGIA-L
> Subject: Re: [Sigia-l] "Getting the design right, and getting 
> the right design"
> 
> 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?

I can understand that bit, it was the other - contradictory - stuff that
I was flummoxed by, like:

"Let the programming and marketing teams know how the product will look
and behave at the very start of the project. Have faith in our ability
to design well-crafted, understandable interfaces and procedures..."

Unless "look and behave" means something else that I'm missing, doesn't
that deny the whole idea of design in its truest sense? 

Jonathan


______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System.
For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email 
______________________________________________________________________