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Goal Directed Design Prevents Dancing Bearware. Andrew Steele twitter: ahsteele blog: http://steelebit.com andrew.steele@sandia.gov.
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Goal Directed Design Prevents Dancing Bearware Andrew Steele twitter: ahsteele blog: http://steelebit.com andrew.steele@sandia.gov Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
The Inmates Are Running the Asylum If you are familiar with Alan Cooper’s The Inmates Are Running the Asylum this presentation will be a refresher.
it is omnipresent dancing bearware
Look a dancing bear! The wonder isn't that the bear dances well but that the bear dances at all
Causes of Dancing Bearware • Software forgets • Software is lazy • Software is stingy with information • Software is inflexible • Software blames users • Software won’t take responsibility
Software Solutions having one is > than not having one
Cognitive Friction Creates Two Groups Apologists Survivors
how we apologize (badly) features
Why do we use features? • Features are quantifiable • Can be bargained over • Put programmers in control • Users are not compelled by features
Product Feature List • Internal combustion engine • Four wheels with rubber tires • Transmission connecting the engine to the drive wheels • Engine and transmission mounted on metal chassis • Steering wheel
Product Goal List • Cuts grass quickly and easily • Comfortable to sit on
different than features goals
What are goals? • Goals are the reason why we perform tasks • Tasks are not goals
Task-Directed Design • What are the tasks? • Programmers do task-directed design • Good programmers, of necessity, see things procedurally, or task-wise
Examples of False Goals • Save memory • Save keystrokes • Run in a browser • Be easy to learn • Safeguard data integrity • Speed up data entry • Increase program-execution efficiency • Increase graphic beauty • Maintain consistency across platforms
how to kill the elastic user Personas
Persona Benefits • Specificity • Hypothetical • Precision, not accuracy • Realistic look at skill levels • End feature debates
Cast of Characters Bruce Hamilton Nancy Green
Bruce Hamilton • Age 52 • Engineer • Prone to complaint • Intolerant of complexity • Computer Literate • Limited recreational internet use • Goal: Perform required task as quickly as possible.
Nancy Green • Age 33 • Center Business Analyst (money person) • Prone to complaint • Power user of Microsoft office • Some recreational internet use • Goal: Track budgets quickly and easily.
Application Praise • ELA is nice and easy to use. • It doesn’t seem to work like other Sandia applications. • I am usually astounded by how our systems at Sandia are unintuitive and difficult to use, but in this case, the Enterprise License Accountability app was a pleasant surprise.