On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 01:26:50PM -0400, Tedd Sperling wrote:
> Hi gang:
>
> I can't wait for tomorrow -- so here's my off-topic post today.
>
> First question:
>
> What do you call the people who ultimately use your code?
>
> I call them the "end-user", but others have stated other terms, such
> as "customer" or "user".
"User", because I'm writing the code for *my* customer. The person
actually exposed to my code may or may not be a customer of anyone. They
may simply be an internet surfer at my customer's site.
>
> Second question:
>
> Are you concerned with their ("whomever") experience in using your
> code?
>
> This question transcends your code working correctly, accurately, and
> securely -- no need to comment on those aspects. But rather more
> specifically do you consider how easily your "whomever" can use your
> work efforts?
>
> As you may have guessed - I just attended a UX conference and they
> provide an interesting perspective on UX. I was wondering how php
> developers typically address the subject.
I'm interested in user experience to a limited extent. My interest stops
when a user wants the code to wipe their nose for them. "Can we make the
website automatically update our accounting system and then write a
check for the cost of goods to the vendor? Sure. How much money do you
have?" (Their accounting system is some inscrutable pile of Windows COM
objects, like SAP, behind a firewall. And they don't even know which
vendor to write the check to. I guess mental telepathy is a part of the
PHP libraries not installed on my development system.) Or "when someone
sends the form on the website for an appointment request, can you make a
reminder pop up on all the desktops in the office? No, I can't. Here's
an idea: assign someone to check the email for appointment requests
throughout the day, and contact the customer to confirm, based on you
actually *looking* at your appointment calendar." Sheesh. Apparently,
computers (not mine) are capable of performing magic tricks.
I think my screens should be fairly self-explanatory, if possible. But
I'm averse to making them idiot-proof. If you're an idiot, get someone
else to operate your computer for you. You shouldn't be using one. But
there may be times when a computer screen or set of screens will
absolutely require some training, rather than someone completely
unfamiliar with the workings of the office just sitting down and being
able to guess how to operate the system. You didn't learn to drive by
just sitting in a car and guessing how it is done. Don't expect a
web-based application to be operable simply by guessing, necessarily.
By the way, I'm quite happy to write documentation for systems.
Unfortunately, more than half the people who read anything can't
actually *apply* what they read to whatever system they're working with.
Supposedly they can read. But somehow they still need someone to explain
it to them, no matter how good the docs are.
Paul
--
Paul M. Foster
http://noferblatz.com
http://quillandmouse.com
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