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Subject:RE: Techies vs Usability vs. Porn From:Jim Shaeffer <jims -at- spsi -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:18:42 -0500
<snip>Clearly the market has said "usability is secondary to
functionality."</snip>
Then how do we explain the success of Windows and of Microsoft Office?<g>
More to the point, the market is not a monolith. Early adopters will choose
functionality over usability. Mature and mass markets will demand usability.
(Fun when the managers are early adopters and the workers are mass-market
types.) AOL, Amazon.com and Microsoft are fanatic about ease of use and use
their technological expertise to deliver it.
Cutting edge technology, by definition, sells to early adopters.
Also, products with an inherently limited audience are not driven toward
ease of use, as long as they solve a problem. (See Moore's _Crossing the
Chasm_ for more about market evolution.)
Jim Shaeffer
Jims -at- spsi -dot- com <mailto:Jims -at- spsi -dot- com>
