Lucid Interface

In The Shoes of Others: Enlightened Usability

2011-04-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

If I were going to write a book, the title of this post would be a potential book title. Highfalutin, perhaps, but it does get right at the heart of what I've learned as a usability leader in software engineering environments over the years. Essentially, if you can't put yourself in the roles of others and see their problems from their point of view, you are very likely to fail.

The practice of observing and listening to our customers -- putting ourselves in their shoes -- this is the cornerstone of user-centered design. However, in order for us to be successful at institutionalizing usability within software development organizations, we need to do no less with our colleagues.

Without the ability to change the way software developers think and work, we fail. In order to motivate teams to make positive changes, you must put yourself in the shoes of your developers and find out just what's in it for them.

I'm not talking about reviews and approvals and quality checkpoints. I'm not talking about poking the development organization with a sharp stick from time to time, desperately trying to get them to give usability the focus it deserves. No. That's old school. I'm talking about transforming software developers into usability practitioners in their own right. I'm talking about making ourselves redundant and then moving on.

I doubt this way of thinking will be generally accepted by the UX community any time soon for what should be obvious reasons, but I firmly believe that this is the only way to bring about profound change. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) there is no shortage of software teams cranking out horribly unusable interfaces who desperately need our help. So when we've done our job and infected the developers with our usability virus, once it has become organic and self-sustainable and we are no longer needed, there's always the next team, the next department, the next lab.

Why do I consider this approach to be enlightened? Because it promotes the greater good in a selfless way. It is the only way to create profound change and it requires no less than literally working ourselves out of our jobs.

So assuming you can see some truth in this, how do you find out what motivates developers to make the changes that are required? You need to discover what will make them want to change.

It begins by observation and listening. As with our customers, you observe your colleagues and listen to them very carefully. You uncover the obstacles that they face every day, the things that make them feel hopeless and stuck and unable to do what every developer wants to do: create great product.

Once you walk a few miles in their shoes, you will likely find that there's a lot to work with. Front end developers sadly, often have somewhat of an inferiority complex. The back end folks and architects get most of the glory, and the front end guys and gals often times have a harder time being seen and heard. I'm speaking in sweeping generalities here and this is not universally the case, but in my experience there are many opportunities for front-end developers to distinguish themselves from their peers, advance their careers, make themselves more visible, more attractive to potential employers, and feel empowered and respected within the organization. All good things for them and for the business.

That's what will motivate the software developer to change. That's what's in it for them. But how exactly do we as UX advocates transform software developers into UX practitioners thereby improving their professional quality of life while dramatically enhancing product quality?

I'll leave that for another post.

I will say this much now: Not only is it this right thing to do and an enlightened approach to our professional lives, but it's relatively easy when compared to traditional approaches to usability -- and it yields tremendous results.

Onward and Upward

2007-10-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

I am no longer providing design and usability consulting services through Lucid Interface. I actually haven't been for quite a while now, since about a month or so after starting at Princeton Softech.

Between the commute and the responsibilities of the position, I don't have the bandwidth to take on anything more. The site will remain up and I will continue to provide publishing services for authors, but I will no longer be providing design and usability services.

Additionally, Princeton Softech is being acquired by IBM and the challenge of the integration should keep me very busy for the foreseeable future.

New Community for UX Pros: Catalyze

2007-08-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

It's brand-spanking new, so there's not a whole lot there yet. But what is there looks pretty darned good. I'm optimistic that this will grow to become a valuable resource to BAs and UX pros alike.

http://www.mycatalyze.org/

Future of Web Design '07

2007-08-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, NYC
November 7 - 8, 2007

I recently registered for this event. It should be a good one. I decided to stick around for day two as well and attend a couple of the workshops. So I'm looking forward to being in the city for a couple of days and doing a bit of networking.

http://futureofwebdesign.com/index.html

Publishing & Author Marketing

2007-06-29T13:25:00.001-07:00

I recently entered into the publishing business and am also working to market my brother Paul's upcoming book, Original Faith. The book will be available later this year.

I've been working hard to promote the blog and book and recently put out a press release which was picked up by Air America. Long story short, Paul's interview on the nationally broadcast radio program "State of Belief" will air this weekend.

The interview was taped over the phone yesterday. The show airs tomorrow, Sat. June 30 at 10 AM EST (7 AM Pacific) and again on Sunday 7 PM EST (4 PM Pacific). The show is also available online and is archived. They provide details on how to listen on their site.

To send Paul comments, visit his blog at www.originalfaith.com/blog.

Review of "Getting Real" by 37signals

2006-07-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

As promised, what follows is a short review of "Getting Real, The Smarter, Faster, Easier Way to Build a Successful Web Application" by 37signals -- makers of Basecamp, Campfire, Backpack and many other successful Web apps.

I bought the book (which is a .PDF download on their site for $19.00) for two reasons: Firstly, I have always liked the applications 37signals produces and secondly, I loved the title of the book.

Working at a large company as I do, it is constantly frustrating to be mired down by the people and processes that seem to pervade every aspect of development. From the bloated meeting agendas to the overkill MS Project docs -- all the process and documentation actually detracts from the team's productivity -- and the product suffers for it.

This is the key message offered by 37signals with this work: Less is more. Fewer features mean you can focus on delivering a higher-quality product that does just enough and not too much. And although they write from the perspective of a company building web apps to sell to the general public, the same principles apply to the kind of internal development efforts my team is involved with at SAP.

Some of the most valuable points I found in the book include the following concepts:

Fix time and budget, flex scope. If you can't fit everything you wanted into the time and budget constraints you have, don't extend the deadline or throw more money at the project. Instead, pare down the scope. It's better to do something small well rather than do something larger that is of poor quality. Add what you had to leave out in the next iteration.

Learn to say "no." This is a biggie. Ignore customer requests for additional features. Completely. Don't even bother to write them down. If they are important, they will resurface. That may sound harsh at first, but the quality of the product depends on it. Don't let scope creep take your team away from the original vision. Software development is an iterative process. If the feature request is truly of value, your customers won't forget it and you can work it into the next version.

Design your interface for all three states of the application: regular, blank and error. I'm so glad they included this point. I had to learn this one the hard way. The easiest state to forget is blank. When developing and application that is database-driven, we are working with dummy data and never see the app without something populated in the tables and fields. But your customer's first pass through will be a blank state. Don't forget to design for that. And of course, make sure you know how to handle errors. The best book on this subject I've found is another by 37signals: "Defensive Design."

Context over consistency. This idea is difficult for interface designers to embrace, but I think its time has definitely come, particularly as it relates to AJAX and RIA apps. Forget the mantra that says consistency creates usability. Context is far more important than consistency. It's okay to forget about consistency if your application functions better that way. The context should be the driving force behind the design.

Overall "Getting Real" was a valuable read and I learned something from nearly every chapter. I love the style of writing used in the book. It's fun to read and the quotes at the end of each chapter really make the ideas come to life.

All-in-all a good read and I look forward to more from 37signals.

Beginnings of a Blog

2006-06-17T18:53:00.000-07:00

I have decided to create a new blog to accompany the Lucid Interface site so I could create a history of my reactions to various articles, books, events, etc. related to Web design and development.

My next post will be a review of the new book entitiled "Getting Real" by 37 signals. I related immediately to the basic idea that less is more. But moreover, I found it contained a couple of interesting points that were immediately relevant to work I'm doing currently at SAP and for Lucid Interface.

If you haven't downloaded your copy yet, I suggest you do so. You'll get plenty for your $19.00.