I’d like to pull the discussion of the possibility of Des Moines area web geekup together here. Interested in ideas for places, times, etc. and the kind of stuff people would be interested in.
The basic idea is this:
• Meeting of primarily web folks working in web development, design and management
• Sharing ideas on methods, ideas, technologies, etc.
• Venue should encourage interaction and sharing (connection if we think it’s needed, power, drinks, light, etc.)
• Open to anyone, think of it as a learning exchange
• No formal agenda but if we want to have ‘topics’ that would be great so people can pick and choose when they want to come
Anything else people want to add is wide open. I have no ownership outside of wanting to make this a reality. I realized at the last tweetup there’s a strong community of people who know their craft and just want to geek out/hack with them. Help my dream come true won’t you?
So I know lots of people are stoked about the enhancements to the Wordpress 2.5 admin interface, but after a few weeks of use I’m left wanting. There are a lot of great enhancements visually and some nice usability fixes but a couple of the biggest problems I’ve had from pre-2.5 were not addressed:
1. Quick nav for Write/Manage. They still force you to click twice just to write or manage a page. And while post writing/editing is far and away the most common pair of actions, there needs to be a way to easily flow into the page management functionality.
2. Quickly adding pages/posts from manage UI. Particularly with pages you cannot ‘add new’ without 2 additional clicks. I seriously doubt this is an overlooked issue, but quite thought out and deliberate, however, just feel cumbersome when setting up new projects and adding/editing lots of pages.
3. No customizable admin menu. Both of these issues could be conquered by a simple admin enhancement to support a user-configurable menu to promote most used actions to the top-most level. I don’t need quick access to design once the site’s deployed, neither do most users. So let me demote/remove that action from the list and add things I could really use.
Ultimately it’s an out-of-the-box vs. power user issue. With a few hours of work I could probably put together fixes for all of these…but they seem to be more core than a plugin.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about enterprise software and how it fits into the current river of super-simple, super-focused web-based apps in the market. When I was designing enterprise products I spent a 60%-40% split in time focusing on desktop versus web application design. Most of the web projects end up being an afterthought or was viewed as a analog or mirror of the rich functionality. I believe that’s changing and business is evolving to a point where the focus can justifiably be on the web. That said the same problem plagued overall direction of both platforms.
The Knife
I remembering having a conversation with a manger in the past about what the biggest frustration with the products I was designing was. My response was this: “We design a swiss army knife, which is great. Lots of features that fill various needs, always available. But the problem is our interface forces the user to have every blade and gadget open at the same time, by default. So you have a tool that’s infinitely useful but on the verge of useless. If all the blades are open all of the time you’re not just going to cut yourself, but you’ll never find the toothpick.” I think the analogy struck a chord, and I think it’s still the biggest hurdle in enterprise and high-end commercial products. Products are driven by market and internal pressures to enhance functionality, and no matter how good your interface is, if it’s release out-of-the-box with everything turned on you’re going to confuse and mystify your users.
That Damn Box
Solving this issue goes well beyond interface design conventions, snazzy interactive widgets or progressive disclosure of elements. You have to look at how the product is delivered, implemented and ultimately rolled-out to users. There is a tendency for interface professionals (developers, designers, UX folks, etc.) to ignore the final piece in the product puzzle. Often rolling out large enterprise applications takes months to years, and on-site developers work to enhance and extend the core application to meet specific client needs, integrations, etc. If you’ve never met with these folks or seen what your product looks like at the end of this cycle you’d be shocked. Many times a large portion of this effort is in TURNING OFF functionality that’s exposed out-of-the-box. Why? Well we have contractually obliged ourselves to having a boatload of new and great features in the product, that’s how we’ve gotten customers to pay for the latest and greatest. So there’s a perceived need to show all of that off - every-time - something new is rolled out. Out-of-the-box tends to mean the newest stuff in the box, which makes sense for marketing but makes no sense to a user. If it’s a new feature or considerable enhancement to existing functionality chances are slim to none I need that up and running by default.
The Fixes
There are a few potential remedies to this issue that may surprise development and marketing teams.
Turn it off - When a feature is introduced turn it off by default. This requires a robust feature management capability that’s exposed to the end user - not just admins. Give users the power to manage what they see and how they use it.
Tell ‘em about it - Taking a cue from successful single/limited focus web apps, make sure you have a message center or place within the product to announce changes and tell your users about the new features. Rather than confound and frustrate them by adding new things, simply tell them there are new things. Empower them to add what they need and make it as simple as a click from your messaging center.
Let them test drive - Even though your developers spent 200 man months on this great new enhancement, there’s a chance a user may not like it after they’ve activated it and had a chance to play around. They may prefer an old way or simply not find a need for your great new widget. No worries, just give them the ability to turn off functionality as easily as they can turn it on. Check your ego at the door, if they don’t like it’s not a big deal - they will be happier with your product if it concedes gracefully than if it’s a jerk about going away.
Put it in the manual - Documentation is softwares oft-forgotten ally. Put it in the docs, make sure users can search for new features the day the product ships. If we make documentation a key component in delivering the message of new functionality it we be elevate its usefulness and necessity.
If you’re involved in enterprise or larger commercial software endeavors I hope this helps. If you’re already doing this drop me a line, I’d enjoy hearing about your stories.
Seriously, 1,000 Kottke words to describe the merits of a flash-based online reservation scheme for an NYC restaurant. It’s about the food, the experience of eating and being served - not about the experience to get a reservation - that matters. Scrap the lame setup and just take a reservation and serve great food. If you checked out the Thomas Keller interview on Charlie Rose you heard one constant theme - simplicity and perfection. Sounds like the Momofuku reservation system is neither - so take a step back and simplify.
Coworker Rob has a great site new that’s really taking off. CSS Newbie is focused on giving folks new to CSS some real world examples and tutorials. Rob has a background in both writing and technology and fuses those worlds seamlessly and elevates code-nerdy writing to a pleasurable experience, and I know only more cool stuff is on the way.
Latest post is a real winner - 7 Tips for Print Style Sheets. Check it out.
I’ve had the privilege to work with cnp_studio and Josh Hallet on some widget work for the Sony Playstation blog and saw that they have some exciting news to announce today. The blog is a big hit with the Playstation community, with part of the its success being the great functionality and features it provides to readers and authors alike. Two of the custom Wordpress plugins developed by Nick and the cnp_studio group to accomplish this are now being released back to the WordPress community. I think both of these plugins (one for rotating featured images and a comment reply mechanism) will find a receptive audience in the WP world. Nice work by all those involved, and kudos to the Playstation folks for having the foresight to give these back.
Here’s the key indicator that Twitter is different - it sucks. It really does, look at the list:
1) Unreliable - site is slow to moderately unusable to abhorrent almost all hours of the day. How slow is it? Bush can get through two whole Family Circus comics before the damn page paints.
2) Clients are the victim of API suckage - Twitterific and Snitter are both well designed, useful tools that live precariously at the edge of completely worthless and “Did that tweet ever get sent?” because they must rely on the service issues of the Twitter API
3) Web Interface is mean to me. It seems to find joy in never remembering my login. Ever.
4) SMS seems to kill my iPhone. I turned the flood gates on earlier in the week so I could find out how Merlin Mann likes his waffles no matter where I am, but that SMS deluge leaves my iPhone groggy, tired and makes the speaker cackle like a Christmas Witch. I ultimately had to bail on that.
So after all of this, I can’t seem to let it go. It’s a useful, verging on necessity at this point. And after all of this hassle I still come back to it. Just think of what it would be like if it worked well, for real. That would be cool, until then back to waiting for the damn pages to load and wishing Twitterific would stop filling up with my tweets and show me what other people are saying.
This is exactly why I never check a domain until I’m ready to buy it. I’ve been afraid of this every place I’ve purchased domains. This is downright shitty behavior. Awful stuff.
