[CLUE-Talk] Books on software usability

[jbrockmeier at earthlink.net]

On Mon, 22 Apr 2002, Chris K. Chew wrote:

> I understand your points, but I am still confused as to why you guys are so
> defensive about websites that differ from your own idea of what they should
> be.

Partly because there's a herd effect. If Companies A, B, and C adopt
an all-Flash site, then some bonehead at Companies D, E, F and so 
on will think "hey! we've gotta get some of that!" 

Partly because Flash and other proprietary technologies do not work well
or at all on Linux - meaning that if you want to browse a number of sites,
Exploder is the only option. Meaning that you either get cut off from
a portion of the Web, or you have Windows shoved down your throat.

> Many of my messages over the months have shown that I disapprove of
> companies like MS, VeriSign, Enron or Qwest; and that I would like to see a
> more responsible consumer (customer).  But I do think that the
> commercialization of the Internet is a good thing.  If you don't like a
> complex commercial website, don't visit it.  The fact remains that there is
> more good to the Internet than text-based Linux websites.  Further, most
> people do react warmly to aesthetically pleasing designs, otherwise
> companies wouldn't pay to have them made.

You can create an aesthetically pleasing site WITHOUT using Flash or
proprietary technologies and without JavaScript. 

Aesthetically pleasing !== Flash - though that seems to be the thought
pattern displayed by a lot of companies. I have no qualms with a site
that follows the published specs that's also well-designed and nice
to look at. 

I have a choice about buying things from Best Buy online or not. But
if I want to pay my phone bill online, I have no choice - and Qwest's
site is dicey at best in a Linux browser. AT&T's site depends on 
Flash as well. Finally, it's just damned annoying to want to get 
some information and not be able to view it because it's designed
for Exploder or in Flash or some other God-awful technology. It's
my right as a customer or potential customer to complain about
a poor service just as much as it is to not do business with them
at all - so I'm not going to stop complaining about sites that
break in Linux browsers and I'm not going to just shrug my shoulders
and accept that that's the way things are. Sorry, that's not
the solution. 

The commercialization of the 'Net has, so far, not been a great boon
to people who use it. I'm not saying commerce has no place on the 
'Net - but it is NOT its sole function. I don't know about others, 
but I don't want to see what has happened to radio and television 
happen to the 'Net as well. I'm worried that increasing use of 
proprietary tools will have that effect. One of the great things
about the Web is that there's a very low barrier to entry. For 
$9.95 a month hosting, a $15 a year charge for a domain and the 
cost of a home computer and dial-up connection I can publish 
content to the world. If Macromedia has their way, I can see a 
day where the primary Lingua Franca of the Web is Flash or
a Flash derivative. If Microsoft has their way, companies will
deploy all kinds of proprietary hooks in their sites that absolutely
require IE. The barrier of entry for someone who has to buy 
tools to create Flash pages and M$'s developer tools and IIS
and SQL Server starts to get pretty high. 

Finally, I don't really think most companies have a clue what their
customers really think about their sites. They hire a consultant
who tells them that a jazzy site is going to drive their profits
through the roof - and since they're the "experts" they listen. 
I think most design firms recommend complex sites using Flash and 
whatnot because they know the client will be unable to maintain
them after they're delivered - thereby ensuring repeat business
every few months when the company wants to make changes. 

You know what makes most users feel warm and fuzzy? Quick load 
times and a site that doesn't make their browser crash. I've
NEVER heard of users asking a Webmaster for glitz. People used
to complain about LinuxMall.com's search function or when they
found broken links or if they had problems with the cart, but
I don't recall a single person asking for "aesthetically 
pleasing." 

Take care,

Zonker
-- 
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier -=- jbrockmeier at earthlink.net
http://www.DissociatedPress.net/
ymessenger: jbrockmeier / AIM: ZonkerJoe
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