Catriona, I have my own issues with agile, which I'm going to avoid getting into.
I find it interesting that you claim your projects for scientists can't be well designed just because of the nature of the product, on that I disagree. No software is going to be instantly understandable, which seems to be many people's goals. I hear it all the time at work, people create a comp and because they and the technosavy people around them say they get it, they deem it instantly understandable. I also find it interesting that you say you are mostly informed by users as to what is an issue with your product. This will tell you what could be more like something else to be better, but you'll be hard pressed to find a user that has thought about the whole of the process enough to give you really valuable info. The kind of info that would enable you to create a system that is learnable. That even these scientists can learn to use without a manual. They need to learn their own terminology and their own trade, but that should be the only requirement to be able to learn how to use the software. The general rule is if the user can figure out how to run the software, they should be able to figure out how to use it. I don't think that, "...designing collaborative imaging management and analysis software for molecular cell biologists that needs minimal training is impossible." If it were broken down into modes that meet the scientists mental models of the process, if they were presented in a clear and straight-forward way, and if any manipulation was done in a way that makes sense for the scientist, I think you could have easy to use software. I designed software for NASA, I know how complicated some of these processes can be, it is just a matter of breaking them down. You might need to have someone who does this work every day to do it, but it isn't impossible. Why give up on it so easy? I know it seems like the right thing to do to talk to the users about what they want, but software companies have been doing this forever and still release crap software. You need to pass the right info through the right filter. I think that Bojhan, and other have all the info needed. The trick now is getting that info into the hands of someone familiar with IxD. Even if it means learning all about IxD and doing it themselves. (I can't believe I got through that without busting on agile) Best Wishes, Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=34208 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
