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Subject:
From:
"William Hudson (ACM)" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
William Hudson (ACM)
Date:
Tue, 14 Sep 2004 10:34:41 +0100
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Scott -

> Results from my informal experiment have been that people 
> seem more likely to think that they could become a good 
> psychologist than a good network engineer.

I'd have thought it would depend a lot on who you asked. My guess would
be that software developers would be more likely to plump for the
engineer. Was there any difference by job function?

Also, I think you may be discovering people do not really know what a
psychologist does in detail. Psychology is frequently portrayed in a
very populist fashion by the media.

And yes, there is a recognized myth that UI design is just common sense.
Respondents are especially likely to believe this where they have had no
exposure to usability testing. In this respect I'd like to propose my
own Usability Maturity Model:

Level:
1 Nebulous      No UI
2 Selfish       User interface designed for developer's needs
3 Fraternal     UI designed for developer's peers
4 Usable            UI designed for recognized user communities
5 Inclusive     UI designed for users communities including a wide range
of needs and abilities

Regards,

William Hudson
Syntagm Ltd
Design for Usability
US Toll Free 1-866-SYNTAGM
UK 01235-522859
World +44-1235-522859
mailto:[log in to unmask]
http://www.syntagm.co.uk
http://www.designforusability.com

Web Design for Usability Tutorial/Workshop, London 3 Nov
In collaboration with the British HCI Group and UK UPA
Full details and online booking:
http://www.syntagm.co.uk/design/webdesign.shtml

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