user-absent design
10 November 2004 19:58![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jrtomThe NY Times reports on a rocky adoption process for the San Jose PD's new Windows-based computer system. It seems they forgot to ask any of the cops to provide feedback on the design before they delivered the system.
I feel that San Jose has a lot less excuse for this sort of problem than most cities: I mean, it's in Silicon Valley. You can't hardly throw a brick without hitting six software engineers, at least a couple of which have had some experience in interface design.
Are we still graduating software engineers that don't recognize the importance of user testing, or is this a management problem? I've had several conversations with my dad about problems like this: he's a doctor at the University of Arizona hospital, and it seems no one asked his colleagues about the design of their new software system either.
These are critical services, folks. (For that matter, it's your money.) Do you really want the doctors that are looking after your kids (Dad's a pediatrician) to make mistakes because your software sucks? (Maybe you don't care, if Dad's in Tucson and you're in Atlanta.)
For companies that charge extra for post-installation consulting, the motivation for poor design seems obvious: if you do it right the first time, you won't be able to charge $150/hour for a consultant to come out and fix it for you. But I assume that all companies can't be working like that, so it's hard for me to see why this problem would continue to persist.
*sigh*
I feel that San Jose has a lot less excuse for this sort of problem than most cities: I mean, it's in Silicon Valley. You can't hardly throw a brick without hitting six software engineers, at least a couple of which have had some experience in interface design.
Are we still graduating software engineers that don't recognize the importance of user testing, or is this a management problem? I've had several conversations with my dad about problems like this: he's a doctor at the University of Arizona hospital, and it seems no one asked his colleagues about the design of their new software system either.
These are critical services, folks. (For that matter, it's your money.) Do you really want the doctors that are looking after your kids (Dad's a pediatrician) to make mistakes because your software sucks? (Maybe you don't care, if Dad's in Tucson and you're in Atlanta.)
For companies that charge extra for post-installation consulting, the motivation for poor design seems obvious: if you do it right the first time, you won't be able to charge $150/hour for a consultant to come out and fix it for you. But I assume that all companies can't be working like that, so it's hard for me to see why this problem would continue to persist.
*sigh*
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Re: Spoken like a true academic.
Date: 11 November 2004 12:22 (UTC)Nonetheless, I'd like to hear your additional ranting.