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WebWord Weblog Posting Posting Date: November 24, 2002 Crisis in the Profession (stcsig.org) -- "At the core of the problem, I believe, is a truth we must face: we have failed to establish our value to the business community. And if we want to survive and prosper, we must correct that."
Reader Comments...
Nice to see Charlie facing up to some of the problems... A couple he didn't mention: Charlie's "LUCID Movement" appeared to be nothing more than a way for him to promote himself and his consultancy. It's difficult to get people to volunteer to help someone else's self-promotion... Charlie still assumes that "usability" works. It doesn't. The best practices are unreliable and often of questionable validity. The worst practices are thinly veiled cons. Charlie's been making the same arguments for over four years now. They failed during the economic glut of the Internet boom. Why should anyone expect that they will work now?
"Charlie still assumes that "usability" works. It doesn't." Ron, could you elaborate? While usability certainly has problems I would argue that it is significantly better than doing nothing. At a minimum, even if we decided to throw out "usability" don't you think that we'd at least want designers and developers to use some of the most basic usability methods? At a high level, doesn't it make sense to gather some data about how users interact with a product, and then use that data to improve upon the design? Posted by: John S. Rhodes on November 24, 2002 07:21 PM
Is Ron actually saying "Usability testing doesn't produce consistent results and is hence not reliable"? Is there an alternative? How should we change the way we work to make products more usable? Is usability itself a worthless goal? I don't think it is. I agree that the danger is in accepting "best practices" without applying thought, but if we assess each situation separately, surely we can do better than no usability at all? Posted by: MadMan on November 25, 2002 12:54 AM
In 'theory' usability is great and should be adopted by everyone. In practise, usability does not work in the sense that it has not delivered, and some people class it as a fad. An attempt to set up a PR firm for usability is misguided and would just make the situation worse. Hoe can we improve the perception of usability without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Posted by: Mac on November 25, 2002 05:17 AM
In addition to what MadMan and Mac said... "Usability" in the abstract CAN work, but it's the concrete practice of usability that matters. Before usability can be successfully promoted (without being a fraud) it has to have a common meaning to a majority of its practitioners and that meaning must be something specific, repeatable, and effective. Today, there is no common meaning. Everyone is doing there own thing and they create professional organizations that support such chaos. Posted by: Ron Zeno on November 25, 2002 10:26 AM
Ron said: "Charlie still assumes that "usability" works. It doesn't. The best practices are unreliable and often of questionable validity. The worst practices are thinly veiled cons." When considering Usability as a whole, including the Jakob Neilsen's and fly-by-night organizations of the world, this is a valid statement. Too many people made a bad name for usability by branding themselves as "experts" who wandered in, made a bunch of pronouncements, and left a bill in their wake. However, when you consider the dedicated individuals who practice and promote good usability, this statement doesn't hold as much water. I don't think of it when I think of John or MadMan, for instance, or when I think of someone like Bruce Tognazzini. The trick is not to think of Usability as a business, but as a practice. This is more true to the roots of usability. You have a specialist who is working with a team on a product or application. You can make a clock radio with a phone that has all the right buttons to make it work as promised, but that is virtually impossible for someone just waking up from a terrific dream about Scott Bakula to operate while half-fogged and determined to go back to sleep for a few more minutes. Click the "off" button by mistake, and the phone call from work will be all that wakes them up. On the other hand, you could design it to have a large snooze button, to locate the "shut alarm off" button in a more inaccessible area so you won't accidentally shut it off, to have a pre-set for favorite times to wake up, and so on. Usability often goes unnoticed, as it should. This makes it difficult for people who do it to promote, it, though. How do you tell someone that you'll give them great ROI when you can't show that their customers will even notice what you've done? (The answer is to sell the client on the idea of Usability, and that's all the ROI they need. Use the special effects analogy, they love that one.) Posted by: Lydia on November 25, 2002 03:59 PM
Some of it is education or running seminars to explain the benefits. Most people think usability is common sense. Selling a *usability service* that can show instant results and helping your team implement the results can also make a big difference. Empathy is key -with an appreciation of the frustrations and hurdles the other disciplines are facing within the same project - design, engineering, marketing etc. I think Mac used the term 'profit centered design' some time back ... I quite liked it. Posted by: daniel szuc on November 25, 2002 11:55 PM
I was immediately put off by the fact that the title of the article in the start bar/ favourites comes out as "Add Title Here" cos the site's been made in FrontPage and no-ones' replaced the title value in the HTML. Posted by: glasshaus Bruce on November 26, 2002 07:03 AM
I was immediately put off by the fact that the title of the article in the start bar/ favourites comes out as "Add Title Here" cos the site's been made in FrontPage and no-ones' replaced the title value in the HTML. Posted by: glasshaus Bruce on November 26, 2002 07:03 AM
In response to Lydia's excellent comments: For a specific individual, using specific methods, and producing specific results (should have added "results" to my previous comments) usability MAY work. Again, it may not. (Whose responsibility is it to determine this?) Just because some people are effective in producing usable products is no argument that all, or even most, people can or do. Because of the chaos in usability practice, ROI arguments only work for specific people, not for usability practice or practitioners in general. Usablity doesn't work as long as people avoid defining the specifics of what they do and what results they produce. Usability doesn't work as long as there are no standards to what usability is and is not. Posted by: Ron Zeno on November 26, 2002 01:13 PM
"Usablity doesn't work as long as people avoid defining the specifics of what they do and what results they produce." I think this is a very good point. I see a lot of people who go in and basically say "trust me" and "just read these statistics." I think it is important to work for your supper and sell the client on the benefits. From time to time, I'll be asked to act as an unofficial consultant on how to integrate usability. I can't actually work on the project, but I'll help a friend hire a consultant by telling them what questions to ask, what to expect/get out of it, etc. I am amazed at what people try to sell them on. I've actually said to people "No, you don't have to let these people dictacte your site design. They are working for you, remember that. You may accept or reject whatever they say, but make sure to ask for..." It shouldn't have to be that way. It would be nice to have an organization that could help to define some guidelines. I elect Ron and Mac to the Board of Directors. Posted by: Lydia on November 26, 2002 01:37 PM
Hey, can we pick a cool name like Asilomar for our new organisation? (not!) I suggest we all meet in LA for brainstorming this. We shall then call our organisation the El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula Insitute for Usability Promotion or EPNSRLARPIUP for short. (Quick, someone register that domain name.) Lydia, if I can't make it to the Board of Directos, can I at least make it to the Leadership Council? Can we call Uncle Jakob too? Tell you what - let's form the organisation first and then decide later what we want to do. And please keep your member donations of $1000 ready. Even pizza in LA is more expensive. :p Posted by: MadMan on November 26, 2002 02:45 PM
Tsk, tsk MadMan. No need to make fun. A name.... ? Usability Specialists Association, or USE. Alternately: Professional Association of Yuppies for Usability Promotion, or PAYUP. Suggestions welcome, as are donations, but no Jakobs allowed. In all seriousness, I think it's a good idea to have good reality checkers on any board (oh, what an awful pun), and all to often most orgs don't have enough of them. I'd nominate you, too, MadMan, but then I might be accused of being too cliquey. Can't have that. Posted by: Lydia on November 26, 2002 04:44 PM
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