Innovation Extermination, or How To Kill An Idea In 250 Words or Less
Scott Berkun's blog post on stopping innovation brought back some of my fondest memories from last year. As I recall, this episode is mostly what drove me to start writing the blog in the first place.
After using the most recent incarnations of Visual Studio over the last few years, I have been completely convinced that a docking and pinning interface is a highly suitable interface for anyone -- not just of the coding ilk -- who has to work in a fast-paced, information rich, and asynchronous activity environment. If the kind of work that you do requires you to synthesize several disparate pieces of information at once at pretty much the drop of a hat, and in a different order or combination every time, then by Jove, your interface should keep pace.
On the trading floor it was an easy sell. "Trader Ergonomics" I called it. And lo, the Traders Smiled. IT rejoiced that there was something that didn't cause the traders to go purple in the face.
Then, I recently came across an eerily similar kind of user work pattern, which required the same interface flexibility. These folks had dual monitors, on which they wanted to place non-modal information in different orders at different times. They wanted extreme flexibility because their processes evolved so quickly and unpredictably, and because individuals in the department each had their own styles of approaching the same problem. They wanted every piece of data at their fingertips.
And the beauty of it all was that the release manager intended to implement SOA (service oriented architecture) which would bring together the relevant (but heretofore scattered) data through a yet-to-be-illustrated modular portal concept.
The conversations went something like this:
Me: Check it out, docking and pinning -- a portal interface, but so much more flexible!
Release Manager: Brilliant! Let's demo to the users!
RM: Docking and pinning -- all new, all your data together, and super flexible!
Users: Wow, cool! It does just what we need!
Me: Let's go, let's develop this thing!
Lazy Asian Fonz: It's so hard. I can't figure out how it works.
Me: Look, I'm not even a developer and I made it work on the prototype.
LAF: I gotta go talk to the chicks.
Me: C'mon, let's develop this thing!
Darth Hut: Users are so stupid. Do you know how much more support this is gonna cause?
Me: No, because these people are not stupid, and it's what they need.
DH: Like I care.
Me: But developers have been using it for years!
DH: Developers are not stupid like users are.
Development Manager: What's up, guys?
LAF: We hate docking and pinning.
DM: What's docking and pinning?
LAF: It's some new thing that keeps me from talking to chicks.
DH: Yeah, and this analyst pushing it is so annoying.
DM: OK, I hate docking and pinning too.
DM: I heard you're being really annoying.
Me: Huh?
DM: Stop it with this docking and pinning thing.
Me: But it fits the new architecture and the users' needs so well!
DM: Stop being defensive and argumentative. This is going on your performance record.
Cue flatline noise.*
* Months later, RM and his merry band of architects resuscitate docking and pinning in the SOA proof of concept. Users still love it. But the pitchforks and torches are already appearing over the horizon of the development village.
After using the most recent incarnations of Visual Studio over the last few years, I have been completely convinced that a docking and pinning interface is a highly suitable interface for anyone -- not just of the coding ilk -- who has to work in a fast-paced, information rich, and asynchronous activity environment. If the kind of work that you do requires you to synthesize several disparate pieces of information at once at pretty much the drop of a hat, and in a different order or combination every time, then by Jove, your interface should keep pace.
On the trading floor it was an easy sell. "Trader Ergonomics" I called it. And lo, the Traders Smiled. IT rejoiced that there was something that didn't cause the traders to go purple in the face.
Then, I recently came across an eerily similar kind of user work pattern, which required the same interface flexibility. These folks had dual monitors, on which they wanted to place non-modal information in different orders at different times. They wanted extreme flexibility because their processes evolved so quickly and unpredictably, and because individuals in the department each had their own styles of approaching the same problem. They wanted every piece of data at their fingertips.
And the beauty of it all was that the release manager intended to implement SOA (service oriented architecture) which would bring together the relevant (but heretofore scattered) data through a yet-to-be-illustrated modular portal concept.
The conversations went something like this:
Me: Check it out, docking and pinning -- a portal interface, but so much more flexible!
Release Manager: Brilliant! Let's demo to the users!
RM: Docking and pinning -- all new, all your data together, and super flexible!
Users: Wow, cool! It does just what we need!
Me: Let's go, let's develop this thing!
Lazy Asian Fonz: It's so hard. I can't figure out how it works.
Me: Look, I'm not even a developer and I made it work on the prototype.
LAF: I gotta go talk to the chicks.
Me: C'mon, let's develop this thing!
Darth Hut: Users are so stupid. Do you know how much more support this is gonna cause?
Me: No, because these people are not stupid, and it's what they need.
DH: Like I care.
Me: But developers have been using it for years!
DH: Developers are not stupid like users are.
Development Manager: What's up, guys?
LAF: We hate docking and pinning.
DM: What's docking and pinning?
LAF: It's some new thing that keeps me from talking to chicks.
DH: Yeah, and this analyst pushing it is so annoying.
DM: OK, I hate docking and pinning too.
DM: I heard you're being really annoying.
Me: Huh?
DM: Stop it with this docking and pinning thing.
Me: But it fits the new architecture and the users' needs so well!
DM: Stop being defensive and argumentative. This is going on your performance record.
Cue flatline noise.*
* Months later, RM and his merry band of architects resuscitate docking and pinning in the SOA proof of concept. Users still love it. But the pitchforks and torches are already appearing over the horizon of the development village.
posted by Little Green Potato at 9:42 AM
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