I agree. Sounds exactly like sap. On Apr 15, 3:55 am, 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? > > > > > > smime.p7s > 3KViewDownload
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