Programmers to blame for hard-to-use software?

I saw this post on the Channel 9 forums, and it got me thinking. While the discussion is about the responsibility of software developers to learn and understand UI design, I think they're missing the point.

In most places of the world, software is chosen, not dictated. The real issue with poorly designed interfaces begins with whoever made them, but it rests firmly on the customers. People intentionally or unintentionally vote with their wallets. The right way to influence better software is to buy better products. Isn't that the spirit of capitalism to begin with? The person with the best product will sell the most.

It's too bad that this point of view is largely academic, since most of the time there isn't a better alternative or other factors are invovled ("here at Corporation X, we determined 3 years ago that we should partner with Company Y, and that's not going to change", for example).

While it's not always practical, I still vote with my wallet whenever I can. For example, I have a PowerMac that I occasionally investigate non-Microsoft programming environments on. I initially purchased BBEdit because of it's reputation. However, after using several competing products, I've settled on SubEthaEdit for my text editor of choice. It's smaller, cheaper, supports C# (for rare occasions), and let's me specify the default window dimensions. I won't be purchasing BBEdit again for those reasons, but if BareBones releases a new version that is better than SubEthaEdit, I would probably switch back. Another great example of my "voting" is buying movies and music that I like.

Do you vote with your wallet? Have any examples to share?

posted on Wednesday, January 03, 2007 2:09 PM by aanttila

Comments

# re: Programmers to blame for hard-to-use software?

Sadly as a younger man, my view was steered by powerful politicians to whom I beleived were there due to their burning desire to build a better world. The model we have is Capitalisim where the market will decide. The best products will come through.

As an older man, you learn most of the politicians are back seat directors on large companies that are resistant to change.
Part of their seat of power is to squash things that are better than their offering at the starting post.

Betamax was a superior format to VHS, and Hollywood can deliver one duff film after another and still keep going. He who controls the distribution channel controls the market.
Hollywood controls film distribution, Microsoft controls the desktop channel.
being outside this mainstream means your an Apple or a Linux and its hard work.

There is often no real alternative.
Apple's ITunes software by anyone I've met who's used it soon love to hate it. Apple do nothing to erradicate these user gripes, and happily modify the Mp3 format to create their own M4p format and lock out other vendors.
Is this really the market voting for good stuff?? Sales continue to rise.

No, its an ignorant market looking at shiny box saying 'ooohhh I want one of those'. Its only afterwards you realise what you've bought yourself into. From Microsofts position, this was 'the anti trust case' and the build in of IE to the exclusion of other market players.
It wasn't 'best of breed' was it.

This was why Hollywood baulked at ratifying the CSS encryption standard that stalled the arrival of DVD for so many years. Its a better product but no it wasn't on their terms.
So it didn't happen until they were ready.

In answer then, in the capital model you'd think the person with the best product will win. In the reality, the person who controls the distribution channel controls what options you get, and they ensure their products are the prominant ones. Good or bad, they don't care, its what they've got to offer.

You get to choose from the options 'on their terms' to the exclusion of potentially better products. Thats the reality of Capitalisim.

VHS won over BetaMax because the market perceived 'it had more films available'.
I wonder how that happend???
DVD didn't arrive until the channel made it good to go. It had encryption and they had control of it.
What else are we missing out on because the channel controllers aren't happy integrating it to their business model? Does the best win through? No.

To put this another way, software is dictated, not chosen.
The market as a whole isn't intelligent enough to make an informed choice. You might be in software, but there will be other areas of your life where you just do what seems to be what everyone else is doing, because, in a capitalist soceity, isn't that how it works, the market knows best???

Have you ever stopped and asked yourself why so many people drink Budwieser??
Is it a fabulous beer or is it fabulous marketing??

Have a fabulous day

Kind regards

Alex








Monday, January 29, 2007 7:55 AM by Alex

# re: Programmers to blame for hard-to-use software?

I don't agree. I think that the majority of software in companies is bought by budget holding managers, not people who understand the software. The glossy salesman will tell the manager that he and his staff can achieve X if only they bought his software. So they buy it and X doesn't appear because nobody could work the software out and 'staff training' had been inadvertently a) not budgeted for in the manager's plans or b) not mentioned as an additional cost by the salesman.

The fault is, of course, the manager's because he/she should know his/her area well enough to understand how human and physical resources (including software) can assist him/her and the team. He/she has a very hard job because software salespersons will sell their software to roadkill if it had a shiny coin sticking out of its splattered small intestine!

So we're too gullable and salespersons are too desperate to sell.

Essentially software designers don't talk to programmers and programmers don't talk to users.

I think Microsoft and Adobe have come a long way in building useful developer/customer relationships. The rise of OS software like Linux et al is testament to what can happen when the software developer is also the designer AND the user/customer.

Microsoft's Silverlight and Adobe's Flex could move along these lines, too.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 6:24 PM by Paulus