Let's back up a step here...why does stuff have to be measurable? Is
it no longer possible to assess without numbers? On the whole (and
yes, I acknowledge that there are significant exceptions) the SMART
methodology did design no service. There are things we know or notice
that are simply ineluctable. To say something is "better" is an
explicitly non-measurable statement. There are decisions we make that
are in spite of data to the contrary...and they result in something
"better".
Let's take a really obvious example: Every test I've ever seen shows
that people are measurably faster using a mouse-based interface than a
command-based interface. At an extremely high level of expertise both
in typing and in the app, people do, in fact, become faster using the
commands... but "membership" in this group is much smaller than the
number of people who believe they are in the group. Thus, we have
people using commands when the menus would be faster for them, and
swearing by their mothers and their puppies that the commands are
faster. You can demonstrate to them that they are slower this way and
they will simply not believe you (although some of the reasons" people
come up with are really entertaining). Take away their commands, and
you will get a lot of people dropping out. If one of the data points
you're supposed to be designing to is speed of use, do you take away
the commands anyway? (Mind you, I don't think anyone in this field
will probably acknowledge being one of those who benefits from menus,
so it's almost impossible to get them to consider the possibility of
removing the commands anyway).
How do you reconcile data and design (in its broadest sense) here? Why
do you need to? Why do we have this aversion to simply admitting that
people have non-measurable, but critically important, preferences and
we need to acknowledge those and incorporate them into design?
(Obviously, in the case of commands, we do just that, but often that's
more a matter of default than decision.)
Katie Albers
Founder & Principal Consultant
FirstThought
User Experience Strategy & Project Management
310 356 7550
ka...@firstthought.com
On Mar 21, 2009, at 3:16 AM, Peter Van Dijck wrote:
I think that's wrong. Why can't I continue to measure and change
stuff?
In any case, data driven design doesn't mean there's no place for the
designer. Who else will come up with stuff that we can then measure?
Peter
On Sat, Mar 21, 2009 at 11:12 AM, AJKock <ajk...@gmail.com> wrote:
The problem with pure data-driven design (testing for 4 vs 2 pixels)
is that they might be missing the point that the result is only valid
for that moment. Humans are not happy with things staying the same
(it
might be part of the our survival mechanism to keep changing),
because
one year we might like curvy cars and the next year we like boxed
cars. Design from Dave's p.o.v. acknowledges the potential for change
in a design and data-driven design doesn't.
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