A very biased review

It is Father's day in New Zealand today.

I've spent some time with my dog, some time with myself, and some time
with my boy.

I always like spending time with myself and my dog, but I find it most
rewarding to spend time with my boy.

He now works in the same industry as I do (as a software support person)
but he comes from a different generation and has different ideas about
how software should work.

I gave him a machine to watch television for him for his birthday a few
weeks ago. Today he spent time showing me how to do things with the
machine, but asked "Why isn't it as easy to use as the programs that you
write Dad?"

How can anyone answer that?

There are all sorts of aspects to elements of UI design and the
functionality that the UI can provide, and I'm certainly no expert in
figuring out the best way to get things right, but I figure that if my
boy can make sense of it then I'm on the right track.

Not all of us have the luxury of a usability lab. Heck there's probably
things that all of us get wrong in the way we present data, but when it
makes sense to the people we're trying to present it to, then maybe
we're getting something right.

I'll try to guess why my boy likes the way my systems present data to
him, and I'll try to use my findings to make my programs better, but I
have no idea how well these findings will work in the greater market.

There's a very good chance that my boy was being nice to me because of
the day. There's also a very good chance that using a survey with a
sample quantity of 1 is going to be incredibly inaccurate. But having
surveyed the usability from even only 1 user makes me feel better.

At least I tried. And it is nice being able to be a hero for at least
one customer.

I love you Stephen.

Scout
.

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