Seven deadly excuses for poor design

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More Installers, Menus.

If you want to read my past writings today, you'll have to search ZDNet, Slashdot, and IBM's websites. My web server goes back into production yesterday, and I'll be adding my articles to it, including an edited version of my side of this conversation. (For some reason, "yesterday" is defined as "sometime next week".)

One of the articles is a rant against the tabs in dialog boxes, but it does not apply here. Tabs can be very useful for initial configuration. Domino uses them effectively for server setup: you can always go back, and the "Next" button moves you forward. (Being a Lotus product, the "Next" button is located at the top of the screen, but it stays on the screen as you scroll.) Linksys WUSB54G configuration almost uses tabs, but the configuration options are hidden rather well: you have to mostly configure it, then save as a "Profile", then edit the Profile for a Wizard that has more options. And you better name the Profile "Default" if you want it to load correctly.

I used to stay up to listen to the birds chorus each morning. Today I am listening to cicadas; they are more of a percussion group.
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I am involved with the world's largest computer company's market research surveys. They often have many branches so one survey could take 5 minutes or 30 minutes depending on the answers. They try to estimate how long it will take, but the estimates are useless because it depends on people's response time and ability to understand each other. They do have a place for marking that the surveyee quit here, and whether they should be called again.

Input for most applications can be treated as a survey. Some applications may not need the ability to branch, but generic survey code in the library greatly decreases development time.

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Windows Installation: What happens if the user backs up?
It is much quicker to delete a file (remove the file reference) than create a file (create the reference and copy the data).

"the amount of computer processing needed may often be so minimal that time is not essential."
Copying files is always the longest period of any installation. The only computer function slower than writing to a hard drive is using a network. So to be economical, copying files should be started as soon as possible, preferably while the user is distracted by the questions. Good programming is about being economical. Today's installers are not. (I just installed Battlefile1942 on a friend's PC; the file copying took long enough for us to have dinner.)

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Menu command placement:
"Tools are sub-applications that become dominant."
That is a programmer talking. Saving a document takes over the computer, so the distinction is less clear to the user. This relates to the article's #4 (Makes sense to the programmers) and #6 (Users will get used to it). There is little we can do about it until the next revolution in computers. (I may be leading that revolution, and be able to influence the standards in a few years, but the market is very different than when BillyG lucked into his monopoly.)

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Relating to my other thread, I just noticed that ZDNet's "Stay logged in" option has disappeared.

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

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