Education of a Tech Guy
public void brent() throws busyException
{
int freeTime = 0;
return;
}
School has thrown me into a constant state of work and deadlines. I’m glad I have found time to sleep as of late. But I have not forgotten about you all. I have had lots of ideas, but no time to express them. oh yes my lament.
This is not a bad thing I guess. I would much rather spend my time writing and exploring various topics; I think I learn way more this way. And in the future I think we are all going to be in a constant state of education the way things are moving today. New technologies are being implemented daily. The landscape is in constant change. But yes, this is not a bad thing because I am learning a lot of interesting things and can apply them to my life. This is a good a thing.
So what I wanted to talk about was Human Computer Interaction (HCI), more specifically the User Interface (UI). Probably up to this point in my technological education I wasn’t too concerned by what the user thought. My thinking was this is how it is and we must adapt to the technology. I think that was a big mistake. Technology should conform to the user; this is my new mantra. Users are not stupid – the technology makes them feel stupid – and that is a big no-no.
I’ve been applying this to various aspects of my technology life. When a fellow worker says, “I’m so stupid I can’t figure this out”. I explain to them that it is not their fault the software was written poorly. That the UI was not made for the novice. I think telling this to family members who want computer support also helps. Everyone get frustrated because they think they are problem and in fact the problem is the technology.
We’ve been seeing a lot of UI design changes in software like: Windows Vista, Ubuntu, Mac OS, and Office 2007. The computer industry, software and hardware, is trying to make the UI more intuitive for all users. I’m not sure if this is good or not, but if it can alleviate some frustrations for users; I think that can only be good.
But on the flip side of this train of thought… is a one size fits all UI possible? No, probably not, some users like things a certain way. So UIs in the future will easily adapt to the user and make the experience more natural. This will be an interesting area of study to follow in the coming years.
And when all else fails there’s always the command line
shutdown -n
Brent:
I think competition can help with this issue; if you’re not the only game in town you’ll work harder to make your products more usable.
By the way, I notice you have a link to my old site, colorstruck.com. I’ve moved to blogstruk.com. Drop by if you get a chance.
Good post.
I can’t wait for my iMac touch tabletop.
“Everyone get frustrated because they think they are problem and in fact the problem is the technology.”
So true! It’s the same way when people think that a viable solution is to find new alternative energy resources when, in fact, the issue at hand is a need to develop more efficient technology.
Great post. Haha, sleep is VERY important! =)