[microsound] Re: software usability

[Simon Hampson <sjh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>my favorite story so far has been from Marc Lavall=E9e, who ended up=20
>quitting his job at a university over the fact that his students and=20
>administration wanted expensive, but "easier" tools like Max/MSP/Jitter=20
>over free tools like PD/GEM. another point which seems to come up a lot=20
>[mostly from Linux folks] is how many Win/Mac users stay "willfully"=20
>ignorant of the workings of their own machines, preferring push-button=20
>solutions to learning even what directory applications get installed to.=20
>of course, there are other sides to that story as well...

There sure are.

The area of 'usability' and considering the 'human-factor' in design is, in=
=20
my opinion, of paramount importance. Computers/the microchip are now=20
sufficiently powerful as to offer us the option of concealing the processes=
=20
and bringing pure straight-forward solutions to the fore. We have the=20
option of developing more user-friendly and task appropriate interfaces (in=
=20
hardware and software).

As regular computer users we are in danger of falling into the trap of: "Oh=
=20
they should just learn..." or "Windows users should know more about the=20
internal processes on their computer". But we should realise that although=
=20
*we* understand these computers, they are not obvious or straight-forward=20
skills to learn.

The task of integrating the microchip and computers more efficiently into=20
our daily lives requires that the design process takes the human into=20
account. Rather than leaving us until the last stage and trying to fix=20
interaction problems through "technical support" (sic).

Simon.=20

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