Top 10 signs your team has usability issues
Many of your users have complained about the complexity of your software product. As a very customer-oriented CEO (who isn’t?), you gather your team and ask them how to make the software more user friendly. Here are their suggestions.
10. We need a splash screen.
9. Shrink the fonts MORE so that we can put more contents at the top.
8. We’ll just put an “Under construction” sign.
7. Usability testing is not needed. I am a user, and I find it easy to use.
6. Well, they should read the F*CKING manual.
5. How can our customers be so stupid! It’s so obvious.
4. If you stop and think about how the interface works for a second, it makes complete sense.
3. We can use Ajax to fix that.
2. We need to start doing some usability tests before our launch next week.
1. Our software is intuitive and user-friendly.
— slightly modified version from Design of Sites
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And this is one of the reasons why tech support experience is valued for entry-level programming positions. You just have no idea how stupid people can be until you’ve done support on some level. I believe that to be an interface design expert, you must first come to realize not only that most people are not geniuses, but that a lot of them are actually almost retarded when it comes to computers. Good designers build idiot-proof UI. Think like a moron, because most of your users are!
I understand what software development teams are going through. When you look at the interface for quite a while, you get accustomed to it. That’s why everything seems so obvious. That’s why you need to test not with your co-developer but someone outside the development team. Someone who has fresh eyes.