Mike at Techdirt writes if the programmer takes the blame for not being a user, make the user a programmer. It is quite true that software gets hurt if it is not developed for usage by the user. It is natural that the creator and the consumer always think about different things. They have to, since the creator has to take of all the insides of the product development, whereas the consumer has to think of the ROI from that product.
The missing puzzle that should connect everything is that the software should be developed for usage, by the user. It is easy said than done, since usually you target more than one user. But purpose of the software should be user driven, otherwise there is no piece that ties the creator and consumer together, that can avoid the disconnect.
I had said simplicity is a perception to assert that the user requires no, or minimal, learning curve to use a piece of software. It is not about how simple the software is really, it is how simple the software is to the user. Neither is simplicity directly related to the number of functionalities or features as they call it. One more aspect is that I do not like to think in terms of features. I like to think in terms of problem and solution, needs and ROI. This lets me focus on the user.
Mike goes on to say that we can make the users programmers. Which I think is similar to logic that leads to blaming the programmers. The way programmers cannot be users, users cannot be programmers too. They are two different knowledge sets, require different skills and they play different roles. Of course a single person can be both, but we cannot generically try to convert all users to programmers. Even with the programming languages aimed for users, like VBA there are a lot of programming aspects that need to be taken care of. A lot of users I have met fail to do so, ending up using it wrongly or inefficiently. We can provide tools to customize the software, which of course is another debate.
January 4th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
Abhijit,
Making users programmers is exactly what makes Excel so powerful. In many circles it has become the de facto management knowledge tool. And while it lets you use VB, the power of Excel is largely in its ability for users to statements like “=sum(a1:a4)” into cells.
That’s user programming at its finest. The point, imo, is to give users software that lets them simply discover and create as much functionality as they need within that use context.
Do that well, and you’ll find people using your software for things you never dreamed of.
-joe
January 4th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Joe, I do agree with you that user programming definitely gives them more power. However, I have also met Excel users who get frustrated when they cannot understand the relative and absolute referencing a cell. Anything more than basics can lead to confusion.
When I think more about it, I feel that there are some users who do not like to play around with the software, they see it as a solution, that will work. In such cases user programming might not work.
January 4th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
[...] Abhijit at ifacethoughts continues a thread from Mike at Techdirt who writes if the programmer takes the blame for not being a user, make the user a programmer. [...]
January 7th, 2007 at 9:07 am
[...] It might be wrong to generalize, but it is a fact there are a lot of cases where programmers do not think about users when they build software. There is a big disconnect between programmers and their users, in their knowledge, their language, their usage and most importantly the way they think. Part of the reason is because the software development company handling it is busier thinking about profit/effort ratio rather than thinking whether the software will really be useful or not. [...]