Software Usability As A Technical Problem

An anonymous reader writes "Let's face it. Poor user interface design is a big problem in software today, particularly in the Open Source world. A recent article on NewsForge addresses this problem from the perspective that software usability is a technical issue that Open Source developers can and should face and conquer, just as we have conquered other technical problems that have stood in our way." (Slashdot and NewsForge are both part of OSDN.)

Arthur Dent: Have you got a solution?

[Threni]

Ford Prefect: No, but I've got a different name for the problem.

- The Hitck-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy.

Re:yeah, look at xcdroast...

[Junta]

.... tit could use some useability...

If there is one thing in this world that doesn't need useability improvements, that would be it...

As the quote goes:
"The only intuitive interface is the nipple, after that, it's all learned."

Interface Guidelines

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, nobody pays any attention to interface [apple.com] these days.

Re:A good book

[Anonymous Coward]

a victim (who was killed by the device) was quoted as saying

He came back from the dead? Cool.

The Simpsons

[BiggerIsBetter]

Remember Homer's car?

Re:Evolve

[santiag0]

I was going to mod you insightful, but this slashdot interface is too complicated to figure out.

It's funny but...

[Gldm]

A friend of mine went through alot of effort to get his racing wheel to be able to control his mp3 player, so he could just spin the wheel with his foot from his bed and not have to get up to change tracks.

Someone once told me "The two required qualities of a successful programmer are laziness, and hubris." :P

Re:Artists aren't necessarily usability experts...

[sparcnut]

Visual beauty while nice does not a usable app make.

Like Yoda you speak. But, agreeing with you I am.

Re:not really

[Prof. Pi]

That's all I can remember, but then there are also settings within applications that you'll want to remove, such as in Outlook XP, select menu item Tools, Customize, Options tab: check "Always show full menus". Other applications will have similar settings.

Thanks. I'll try that and see if that helps. I'm glad Windows has such ease of use! In Linux, I'd probably have to edit a *.rc file somewhere.

Re:We use the users in designing

[Finuvir]

So what we need is two buttons for every function, on opposite sides of the screen, which need to be clicked on simultaneously.

What, that wasn't the point of your post? I see.

Re:We use the users in designing

[Anonymous Coward]

At first I thought it was a silly thing to do that would insult the operator's intelligence (who would be stupid enough to reach into a compactor while it was running?) But one of the operators confided that it was a great idea because after being burned out from working a couple of double shift days in a row, he didn't want to loose his hand from a simple operational oversight.

I've always thought that "user friendly" meant "inuitive when shitfaced."

"Intuitive when tired" works, too.

Maturity

[BorgCopyeditor]

From the article:

Our backends have matured.

They have a pill for that sort of thing now, you know. Technical problem indeed.