Comments on: Some Tech Articles for You on a Saturday Morning http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:23:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: JChauncey http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html/comment-page-1#comment-13829 JChauncey Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:34:05 +0000 http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html#comment-13829 I think most of our problems with software stem from the "because we have always done it this way" mentality. I think most of our problems with software stem from the "because we have always done it this way" mentality.

]]> By: sam http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html/comment-page-1#comment-13816 sam Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:48:21 +0000 http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html#comment-13816 Agree on the feedback loop - one of my own experience designing software is we retrofitted an enterprise application to be a web application and used all the latest techniques, rounded corners, dynamic tabs and it looked like any good consumer UI does. We took it to a friendly customer and asked their user to use the product for a day while we observed her. She hated it within first 10 minutes - she is used to taking orders over the phone with her left hand holding the phone and right hand using the keyboard to type in details. New system required her to use the mouse, since its the web interface ( and keyboard hot buttons were getting taken over by the browser - like Ctr+T for tabbing now creates a new tab in firefox ). she was happier with the green screen based on an AS/400 system and more productive - the web interface was a non starter for her. Different use cases require different user interaction - consumer UI is not suited for enterprises in majority of cases. When pe- Despiteople try to force web UI to enterprise software, they are trying to mimic desktop behavior on a browser ( a terrible idea ). Not sure if we can take airline agent's app, which is ancient as an yard stick of enterprise software quality - instead, measure the effectiveness of enterprise software by looking at salesforce.com or even Oracle Fusion interfaces that are coming out recently. Agree on the feedback loop – one of my own experience designing software is we retrofitted an enterprise application to be a web application and used all the latest techniques, rounded corners, dynamic tabs and it looked like any good consumer UI does.

We took it to a friendly customer and asked their user to use the product for a day while we observed her. She hated it within first 10 minutes – she is used to taking orders over the phone with her left hand holding the phone and right hand using the keyboard to type in details. New system required her to use the mouse, since its the web interface ( and keyboard hot buttons were getting taken over by the browser – like Ctr+T for tabbing now creates a new tab in firefox ).

she was happier with the green screen based on an AS/400 system and more productive – the web interface was a non starter for her.

Different use cases require different user interaction – consumer UI is not suited for enterprises in majority of cases. When pe- Despiteople try to force web UI to enterprise software, they are trying to mimic desktop behavior on a browser ( a terrible idea ).

Not sure if we can take airline agent's app, which is ancient as an yard stick of enterprise software quality – instead, measure the effectiveness of enterprise software by looking at salesforce.com or even Oracle Fusion interfaces that are coming out recently.

]]> By: charlieok http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html/comment-page-1#comment-13814 charlieok Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:52:47 +0000 http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html#comment-13814 I think "feedback loop" is a great way to sum it up. Looking at the trendy software development methodologies, or broadening even more to include "customer development" ( <a href="http://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-is-customer-development.html" target="_blank">http://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com/2008/11...</a> ), the common thread is adding, or tightening, feedback loops. The waterfall method is the one software people dump on and the reason is simple: no feedback loop. I think "feedback loop" is a great way to sum it up. Looking at the trendy software development methodologies, or broadening even more to include "customer development" ( http://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com/2008/11… ), the common thread is adding, or tightening, feedback loops.

The waterfall method is the one software people dump on and the reason is simple: no feedback loop.

]]> By: charlieok http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html/comment-page-1#comment-13812 charlieok Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:46:13 +0000 http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html#comment-13812 If google calendar were designed to better suit the specific case of taking orders over the phone and scheduling deliveries, would that make it better software? The way to judge "better" is probably product-market fit ( <a href="http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/the-pmarca-gu-2.html" target="_blank">http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/the-pmarca-gu-2.ht...</a> ). This yardstick applies in both the consumer case and the enterprise case. If google calendar were designed to better suit the specific case of taking orders over the phone and scheduling deliveries, would that make it better software?

The way to judge "better" is probably product-market fit ( http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/the-pmarca-gu-2.ht… ). This yardstick applies in both the consumer case and the enterprise case.

]]> By: Eric Marcoullier http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html/comment-page-1#comment-13811 Eric Marcoullier Sat, 11 Jul 2009 20:40:36 +0000 http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html#comment-13811 Sam -- it sounds as though you think that I'm equating consumer software design with rounded corners and pastel colors. Let me clear a couple things up. 1) I've used plenty of enterprise software, like anyone else who has worked in menial jobs like food, retail and customer service. 2) My primary problem with enterprise software is efficiency. Ever go to an airline gate and ask to change your seat? The gate attendant spends four or five minutes clicking buttons and typing on the keyboard and eventually you find out whether there are any seats available. Compare that to changing your seat when you check in at a kiosk. Google Calendar is unlikely to offer the specialized fields required for a delivery scheduling system, but it's quite efficient at adding events with a single click. 3) My premise is that this is because the software developer is so removed from the user. The feedback loop is broken. If something is inefficient, there is essentially no way for a user to communicate that to the software company. Compare that to a consumer site who gets constant feedback and has the ability to immediately roll out changes for testing. Looking forward to hearing your feedback. Sam — it sounds as though you think that I'm equating consumer software design with rounded corners and pastel colors. Let me clear a couple things up.

1) I've used plenty of enterprise software, like anyone else who has worked in menial jobs like food, retail and customer service.

2) My primary problem with enterprise software is efficiency. Ever go to an airline gate and ask to change your seat? The gate attendant spends four or five minutes clicking buttons and typing on the keyboard and eventually you find out whether there are any seats available. Compare that to changing your seat when you check in at a kiosk.

Google Calendar is unlikely to offer the specialized fields required for a delivery scheduling system, but it's quite efficient at adding events with a single click.

3) My premise is that this is because the software developer is so removed from the user. The feedback loop is broken. If something is inefficient, there is essentially no way for a user to communicate that to the software company. Compare that to a consumer site who gets constant feedback and has the ability to immediately roll out changes for testing.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback.

]]> By: sam http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html/comment-page-1#comment-13810 sam Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:15:14 +0000 http://www.feld.com/wp/archives/2009/07/some-tech-articles-for-you-on-a-saturday-morning.html#comment-13810 The interesting thing about the Gnip guys quote is that he might have never had a reason to use enterprise software in his life - consumer UI is cute and good for surface level interaction - if you try doing a deeper, every day work using consumer UI, it basically sucks......try taking orders over the phone and schedule deliveries on Google Calendar - try to do it for a week. The interesting thing about the Gnip guys quote is that he might have never had a reason to use enterprise software in his life – consumer UI is cute and good for surface level interaction – if you try doing a deeper, every day work using consumer UI, it basically sucks……try taking orders over the phone and schedule deliveries on Google Calendar – try to do it for a week.

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