Seven deadly excuses for poor design

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Apassionata, Jando, next...

You wrote:
I too usually complain about "always" and "never", but "Best Practices" usually use those words to set firm guidelines that are not broken until someone has enough experience. Having enough experience is defined as when you broke the rule, got away with it, and nobody says it would have been better if you followed the rule.

Ah, the Beethoven effect. Might also phrase it as: Best Practices are the rules you follow until you're capable of superceding them. That aligns with theories of moral development.
(I'm also listening to the Emperor Concerto, Kempff as I type.)


In response to my:
The best example of a multi-answer screen is entries that correspond exactly to the source <ocument.

You wrote:
I think you are referring to computerizing a paper form. Is that what you mean by "source document"? I have written articles about the differences between paper and computer forms. The main point is that paper is limited vertically, so everything is forced on the minumum number of pages; computers should rarely have two fields on one horizontal line (Best Practice would say "never".)

I should read the articles. Still...
Consider the Tab button. Doesn't that reduce the "lost in space" complexity of a computer form when the entries on both match exactly? There's also the reassurance of the correspondence between finger on the page and marker on the screen, the familiarity of the layout, and the ability to consider each entry as not quite a new challenge.
Dealing with very subtle apperceptions here. I'd enjoy reading your comments.
(Have to mention, there's a bird outside my open window chirping regularly, and on weak beats. An odd fit to the Beethoven. Birds syncopate?)


On progress bars, you wrote:

Users have learned not to trust progress bars. Lotus progress bars take forever to get to 30%, then complete quickly. MS progress bars get to 80% in minutes, then take hours to finish.

Here you're talking about the "computer is working" progress bars, I think.
You're right that what's being measured is inappropriate because the information being communicated is whether there's time to get a cup of coffee. Microsoft's Minutes To Go count at Windows Update and elsewhere is broken, doesn't move at all even though the bar does.
This is a flaw in practice, which doesn't much affect theory.

Then on interactive progress bars, you wrote:

The only usable proress bars are ones that state the current page and how many pages of questions, but that defeats the dynamic ability of Wizards. If the number of pages changes, do you add it as page "4A" so the total stays the same, but sometimes the page counter does not increment, earning more distrust? Or do you have the total include all possibilities, and scare the user with a large number?

Survey questionnaires often won't be finished if they exceed a certain amount of time. If the number of questions will scare the user, the instrument needs work.
Also, the percentage completed can be adjusted if there are more/fewer questions on one track than another.
Is this issue as severe as it sounds?


Your response to my comments on how to keep the user going on Windows startup (for example) was more about the programming needed to save processing time by completing functions as the questions are answered.
Without quoting, I'll comment that in some cases users can change their minds and back up. Also, the amount of computer processing needed may often be so minimal that time is not essential. Whether the gain is worth the elaboration may depend on the specific situation. Sometimes the best practice is being indefinite until you know the circumstances.


Because I agree with you about the role of convention in where commands get placed, requires less discussion.

I will comment on one assertion, though:

"Tools" is a really bad label for anything. The computer and every command are Tools. What makes these commands special? Should the label be "Misc" for everything that did not fit in another menu? Why is MSWord's and MSExcel's "Spelling" under "Tools" rather than "Format"?

Tools are sub-applications that become dominant. Spelling isn't a format, it's an application that operates on the content of a Word <ocument. The Tools in Internet Explorer include Mail and News, Synchronize, and Windows Update, then Reset Web Settings and Internet Options.
In each case, the function takes over or controls the "application" that's working. (I put application in quotes because IE is, of course, a valued part of the operating system.)
This is really the next door neighbor to your "Misc" heading, but there is a tenuous organizing principle to be accepted like a legal fiction, and, as W.S. Gilbert assures us, legal fictions are solemn things.

Your other examples show how far this tenuous principle can be contorted. Gilbert's only fee for his own first legal action was a shoe thrown at him by the dissatisfied client. So, like legal fictions and Gilbert's career at the bar, your other examples do not bear close examination.

I appreciate the need to simplify in posts, so the limitations are sometimes useful. Looking forward to your reply.

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 09/03/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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