Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!atux01!jlc From: jlc@atux01.UUCP (J. Collymore) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Programmers and Users Message-ID: <452@atux01.UUCP> Date: Tue, 19-May-87 15:59:16 EDT Article-I.D.: atux01.452 Posted: Tue May 19 15:59:16 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 20-May-87 06:00:57 EDT References: Organization: AT&T CSEd/CET, Piscataway, N.J. Lines: 35 Summary: Human Factors In article , rs4u#@ANDREW.CMU.EDU (Richard Siegel) writes: > > That's the problem. Many programmers are completely ignorant, > unaware of, or simply don't care about the people who will > be using their software. Example: Where I work (no names, to > protect the innocent), there's a programmer who graduated > cum laude in Computer Science. He's an excelent programmer. > THe prob is, the applications he's doing are for scientific > research, and he has VERY LITTLE conception if the needs > and requirements of the people who will be using his software! > > It's my belief that a programmer should have a fairly good idea > of the needs of his audience, whether he's writing a word > processor to be marketed, or whether he's writing custom, > one-shot, in-house software. ANy other way is foolishness, > and programs like MS Word suffer from this lack of vision. > Until more managers (and individual programmers) finally realize that "Human Factors" is more than just a buzz-word, you will continue to see programs and systems designed in a manner that will usually fall short of being "user-friendly." When more programmers and project managers include Human Factors psychologists as integral parts of their projects, (and not just as "figure-heads" or "scape goats" whose input they neither acknowledge or implement); and when serious "user acceptance testing" as part of the overall system test plan is done, then we as consumers, may see software (and hardware) that really makes us feel we bought a GOOD computer product. Jim Collymore Disclaimer: The above opinions are nd get 8