Diomidis SpinellisJul 9
Ever wondered why car ergonomics have gone down the drain as touch screens replaced buttons to drive down costs? This reader comment on an FT article on the topic says it all.
Show threadPaddy DukeJul 9

@CoolSWEng I’m inclined to believe this is almost certainly not the reason.

For one thing, the odds of having a design team with no drivers in it are just pretty low. I work in tech, and in every design team I’ve ever been in I was the only non-driver. Most of the world is still too car-centric.

For a second thing, lots of good designers very often design for use cases which they themselves don’t share. You don’t have to be a pilot to design an aeroplane cockpit.

Show threaddatenwolf

@paddyduke @CoolSWEng

> You don’t have to be a pilot to design an aeroplane cockpit.

Yes, you do. In all major airplane companies user interface design decisions directly involve the end users (i.e. pilots); it's a lesson learnt the hard and bloody way.

Jul 9 at 2:01pmWeb
Show threadPaddy DukeJul 9

@datenwolf @CoolSWEng You need a pilot (preferably multiple pilots) involved. But the designer usually works as a designer and is not necessarily a pilot themselves. I’m in no way arguing that you shouldn’t get input from your users. That would be absurd.

If you had to hold a role in order to design for it there would be no designers or architects or planners. And yet here we are. Design is a specific skill set and just having domain expertise doesn’t necessarily make you a good designer.

Show threadEnema Cowboy9h ago

@paddyduke @datenwolf @CoolSWEng

"The worst user interfaces are created by software developers. Except those created by the customer."*

*And especially customer management.