On 03/16/2011 01:35 PM, Marc Lajoie wrote:
A better analogy would be engineers designing a professional baking oven. The engineer insists, "No, you know nothing about heat flow, etc. This is how the oven should be designed." The baker answers, "But that doesn't correspond to the way I cook!" A conversation is needed between both to make the ideal oven, because each lacks information needed for the optimal design. The bakers lack the science, the engineers knowledge of how it will actually be used.
If you are not under too tight constraints, the question shouldn't be how something is being done, not even how users would like to do it, but rather: how should they do it?
Especially given the huge role habituation and familiarity play in early evaluation of concepts and implementations by users.
It's a small step from workflow to ritual.Sometimes the problem may be certain users stubbornness rather than anything else, especially if you design for the long term. So the answer may have to be wrapped up in a strategy to "sell" it.
-- Thorsten Wilms thorwil's design for free software: http://thorwil.wordpress.com/