[Usability] Re: [Desktop_architects] Printing dialog and GNOME

[Mike Shaver <shaver mozilla org>]

On 13-Dec-05, at 1:45 AM, Christopher Blizzard wrote:

> First, I want to throw out the word "Usability."  I hate it.  Hate  
> hate
> hate.  Because it describes something that doesn't exist in the real
> world.  Why?  Because as you have discovered it's entirely subjective.

Subjective personal response to things _does_ exist in the real  
world, and is the basis for such promising new developments as  
"love", "democracy", and "advertising".  That you can't quantify how  
much a user enjoys using your software doesn't mean that you  
shouldn't care about it, or try to improve it in the aggregate or  
even for a specific high-value user.  Optometrists don't measure how  
much better A looks than B, but that I can tell them which I prefer  
lets them hone in pretty well on which lenses I should be wearing.

> We're not treating people like idiots, we're just
> trying to make an operating system that tries to make computers not  
> get
> in the way but instead enable a large number of people to get useful
> work done.

You're trying to make a _free_ operating system that gets out of the  
way.  Sometimes it's likely that you'll have to compromise on some  
element of Just Works to preserve that.  Firefox could make a number  
of sites Just Work by pulling up Trident or running ActiveX (via  
Wine, even!), but we don't because "Just Work" is not our only goal.   
Managing expectations in users is an important part of helping their  
experience along, IMO.

Mike