Sunday, June 05, 2005

I think it's my fault...  So Joe writes about a big company putting a layer of documentation on a bad UX, trying to fix it on the cheap...and I recognize that I might be responsible for the memo.
See, I complained to a bean counter that I was having waaay too much difficulty in filling out my expense report. I talked to her about user experience (UX) and how the software should conform to my needs, not vice versa. She said, "I know, I know. I spend half my day talking to folks about how to fill these blankety-blank forms out...and I have a lot more other work to do each day!"
I suggested the form be changed to reflect how users' mental models work, but she'd have none of it. Reflecting that she'd drunk the Kool-Aid, she said, "Nope, that's the way they created the software."
So it's obvious that, to fix it, they simply added a layer of documentation to the UX, hoping that'll make folks go away, I guess.

No comments: