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Home Page- List of All Content Home Page- All content, in date order Resources: page describing tools you can use Morsels: just our short articles and blurbs Just our Before&After Articles About: details on who I am and what I do Address, phone, number,  and so on
 
 
Check out these items that can help you conquer unfriendly software:
arrow Function Tree
Destined to be an industry classic, a consolidated hierarchy of all generic software function.
arrow Results Tree
I'm not settled on the name yet, but the content is incontrovertable: afford these results or vanish.
arrow GenericUI
Style sheet and hundreds of design elements for serious data applications in a browser
arrow Website Survival Checklist
33 vital signs for every website's health
arrow Computer User's
Bill of Rights

8 rules of the of user-in-yourface common sense
arrow Winning the Business Softwar
Our 46-page book, absotively free
arrow Free Usability Criteria for RFPs
Put this text right in your Requests for Proposals, no strings attached.
  Full list of resources...
If Manufacturing Had to Play by Software Rules... (All Articles)

I think I've got a good analogy for the outrageous practice of coding applications in a browser. It's like all the products of daily living had to be manufactured by the same factory that makes washing machines, with the same materials, processes, and machinery:

  • Cars wouldn't roll to their destination, they'd spin and vibrate until they got there.
  • Houses would be big metal boxes, really big, and only come in white or eggshell. Of course there would be only one window/door, but drafts wouldn't be a problem any more with that water-tight seal.
  • Everything would have a motor whether it needs it or not. For instance, telephones would be a minimum of 1/2 HP.
  • Even the simplest processes would now require a wash, rinse, and spin cycle. Opening the door to your house would take approximately 45 minutes.
  • Beds would be very uncomfortable, but on the plus side you could centrifuge yourself into utter unconciousness.

 

 


"My interest in usability arose from the pain and tears of patching the wounds of suffering interface designs with the inadequate bandages of help files and user guides." — Daniel Cohen

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