19 July 2011

Make Software for People

Whenever software professionals extol the virtues of Lean Manufacturing, I think of the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy & Ethel work the assembly line of a candy factory, then I wonder
What does quantity-based slapstick have to do with people interacting with visual representations of information?



Alan Cooper roasts the auto industry for slipshod telematics in this Cooper Journal post: Will Ford learn that software isn't manufactured?

Auto manufacturers are far from mastering telematics. Toyota might have given birth to Lean, but 10 minutes struggling to make heads or tails of the slapdash telematics and interface controls on my Prius proves Toyota isn't paying attention to my needs, let alone offering a familiar visual metaphor.


Someone at Toyota must have deemed an intuitive dashboard display & interface controls to be one of the original seven wastes.

You don't have to be Alan Cooper or Don Norman to empathize with the people using your software. What's the value and where's the joy in using your products?

Design Serves Human Purpose – from paper clips to pyramids. Make software with people in mind.

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