You don't work for a university by chance, do you? A design like this sounds like it could have been made by students as a project.
On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 1:55 PM, David Linsin <[email protected]> wrote: > Sounds like SAP > > with kind regards, > > David Linsin > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > email: [email protected] > blog: http://dlinsin.blogspot.com > > > > > On Apr 14, 2009, at 3:28 PM, anon wrote: > > >> I just listened to 241 about user interfaces and Joe, I think, said >> that the number one rule for UI design is not to expose the underlying >> data structure. This got me thinking about some software I use that >> does exactly that, expose its inner structure, and I would like to >> nominate it for the worst UI of all time. >> >> I wont give details of the software or suppliers because my company is >> touchy about criticism of it (they spent a lot of money - according to >> the previous CEO the system had cost $100 M up to the point of >> deployment) and they wouldn't take kindly to public shaming of them or >> their suppliers. >> >> Everything in this system is a table, actually multiple tables to do >> even the simplest thing. People in the system are not known by name; >> but by a long number, I suspect this is a database key. To make >> matters worse you are not always the same number, it depends what >> operation you are doing. Similarly projects are numbers, very long >> ones! To give you an example I will describe effort logging, I could >> pick any aspect of the system, it is universally bad, but I >> particularly dislike the effort logging because it is really simple to >> do effort logging well and this system doesn't, so here goes. >> >> 1. You log in, which takes forever, and after many clicks and more >> waiting you are presented with an empty form for that weeks effort >> logging. This will have taken at few minutes to get to this empty >> form! >> >> 2. You request what projects you can log to for that week. >> >> 3. Wait many seconds whilst a table is filled in with project >> descriptions that are very short and hence often non-unique, I have >> two called Theme Management for example, and your number for that >> project (yes that's correct each person has a different number in each >> project they are in - actually you need two numbers per project per >> person). You can't check your numbers, you can't find out more about >> projects. If you are unsure which project is which you just have to >> guess. >> >> 4. Copy the lines from the first table into a second table (why it >> doesn't just skip 1 - 4 and open up with the second table filled in is >> beyond me). This is harder than you might think, since it only shows >> five lines at a time in each table and you have to scroll to get all >> the projects - scrolling takes forever (10 seconds per line or >> thereabouts). There is a shortcut if you want all the projects to be >> copied to the second table. >> >> 5. At this point each project from the first table is split into two, >> the first line is the hours you get paid for, the second line is the >> excess hours that you worked that you don't get paid for! These excess >> hours are called statistical hours. You can possible find statistical >> hours out for your project but I don't know how nor does anyone I have >> asked (including the trainers at the 2 hour training course I went on >> to learn how to fill in the time sheet - yes, really, 2 hours for the >> time sheet alone). >> >> 6. Each day for the first line, paid for line, of each project has to >> add up to exactly 7.35 hours (that is not 7 hours 35 mins - that is 7 >> hours and 35 hundredths of an hour) and each entry you make is rounded >> to two decimal places (don't try anything smart like, 3.33333 hours). >> I have 16 projects that I log to and have ended up developing a >> spreadsheet that calculates the values correctly rounded to 2 decimal >> places to enter in the table for each project. >> >> 7. You can put what you like for the statistical hours, second line >> for each project - they disappear into a black hole anyway. >> >> 8. Again this table is limited to five lines and takes about 10 >> seconds to scroll per line. 5 lines are particularly annoying since >> there are two lines per project and therefore you can only see 2.5 >> projects at a time. Would a 6th line have killed them - or for that >> matter a whole page. >> >> 9. After you have filled in all the boxes on the second table you >> press check. It then tells you if there is a problem, however it >> doesn't pinpoint the cell that has a problem, just the column that has >> a problem. The error message is "problem with [date]" - no hint as to >> what the problem is. If you have a row wrong, say your wrong number >> for that project, then it lists all columns in the table as in error, >> i.e. the whole table, but does not tell you which row is wrong. >> >> 10. Then you submit the table, when check confirms everything is OK. >> >> 11. It comes back listing the time you entered for each day and each >> project, i.e. the information you just fed in. Only this time it is >> formatted as a list and not as a table and is particularly difficult >> to follow. Actually I don't even bother looking at the list any longer >> - I can't follow it anyway. >> >> 12. Assuming that you are happy with the list you hit save. If you >> have anything wrong at this stage, say you forgot to hit check, step >> 9, and there is a problem then it bombs and you go back to 1 (do not >> pass go and do not collect $200). >> >> 13. Assuming that save worked, then takes the system about 30 seconds >> to a minute before you can proceed with the next weeks worth of effort >> logging. Only rather than give you the next screen it takes you back >> to the system home screen. So you are right back at point 1 again for >> the next week - arghhhhhhhh. >> >> 14. If you forget any of these steps, e.g. save at 12, or if the >> system crashes, which it regularly does, then you loose - the lot - go >> back to 1 and start again. >> >> I think almost anyone could have made filling in a time sheet easier! >> And remember everyone in the company has to do this for each day of >> each week (even if you are on holiday - and no you can't do your >> holidays in advance or arrears you are expected to log on from holiday >> via VPN and complete your time sheet!). >> >> Well it was therapeutic for me to describe just how awful the system >> is; but the question is, can you do worse? >> >> >> > -- Robert Casto www.robertcasto.com [email protected] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. 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