Larry, Very well said!
Alan __________ cooper | Product Design for a Digital World Alan Cooper [email protected] | www.cooper.com All information in this message is proprietary & confidential. "Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly, I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it." - Theodore Roosevelt -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Larry Tesler Sent: Saturday, March 21, 2009 5:59 PM To: IxDA Discuss Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Bowman leaves Google Yes, over-reliance on data-driven incremental design (DDID) is ill- advised. - Customers who use more than one of a company's products tend to be the most valuable customers in the long run. DDID usually optimizes one product at a time. The resulting inconsistencies may make each product a bit more profitable but can make it less likely for a heavy user of one to become a casual user of another. - DDID is an effective way to climb a little higher on a profit hill. It will never get you off the current hill onto a taller mountain. - Changing shades of blue and line widths can nudge a product higher on its current hill. But an organization that makes choices based solely on the basis of performance data won't learn why a certain shade or width works better, and is unlikely to apply the lesson to the next project. Revenue is foregone, costs mount and precious resources are tied up while each new product is gradually optimized. But many managers love DDID. It a systematic, replicable, and inherently measurable. Delight in the experience and passion for the product line are much harder to measure. The non-mathematical way that designers go about evoking such emotions isn't something that the staffing and training departments can reliably replicate. These days, great success usually emerges from a smart combination of analytical thinking and design thinking, a combination that requires mutual respect and cooperation as equals among the various practitioners. Larry Tesler > When a company is filled with engineers, it turns to engineering to > solve problems. Reduce each decision to a simple logic problem. > Remove all subjectivity and just look at the data. Data in your > favor? Ok, launch it. Data shows negative effects? Back to the > drawing board. And that data eventually becomes a crutch for every > decision, paralyzing the company and preventing it from making any > daring design decisions. ________________________________________________________________ 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 ________________________________________________________________ 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
