2007-Jan-3 - http://suckbusters.com/
Just read this article "Programmers to blame for hard-to-use software" about a fella named David Platt:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070103/sc_nm/software_platt_dc
I am thinking I will have to use my new acquired Christmas Barnes and Noble gift card to buy his book.
Platt is a computer science instructor at the Harvard University Extension School and the author of a new book called "Why Software Sucks ... And What You Can Do About It," published by Pearson Plc unit Pearson Education.
Yes and go to his website: http://suckbusters.com/.
This article strikes me because, as a tester, I constantly make note of the usability of the apps I'm testing . But I've been in very few jobs that give a rat's you know what about usability. And this problem isn't limited to programmers either.
At my current work place, the other Senior Quality Assurance Analyst (note the emphasis I am making...) and I receive reprimands that the bugs and usability issues we are finding aren't really bugs because we are not using the apps the way the users (which are experts) would use the apps. Of course, we have no way of knowing how the experts would use the apps (because of no documentation and because the experts are too busy (probably with workarounds to the above mentioned bugs!)) so we have to actually use the apps to figure out how the apps work. Or not. But that doesn't mean we are finding bugs. It just means we not smart enough to use the apps!
Ah! So this article is actually stating that programmers need smarter people to develop programs for. I get it now. Or do I? I might not be bright enough to know what I'm talking about...
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