inputs/outputs

I’ve recently started traveling to Indiana for my job, and I’ve discovered a couple of qualities that make Indianapolis more user-friendly than DC. The interface is designed in a way that tries to appeal to all users. This quality is important for a successful and efficient system, if you ask me. It’s also one of the hardest things to accomplish.

In DC, I spend a lot of my time getting lost on side streets, not being able to make a u-turn or left turn when I need to make that turn, quick exits/turns with no warning, unmarked streets, or streets with terrible design. Now, I admit that I have a poor sense of direction, and that someone with a good sense of direction can learn to navigate DC. But someone with Firefox will also have a better browsing experience than someone with IE. Since there are still many IE users, designers try to design websites with all users in mind, and the same should go for streets. Indianapolis is the same way. The signs are large and they give sufficient warning when a turn needs to be made, and after a while I can figure out how to get to places without needing to consult Google maps. This is huge for me. I have a poor sense of direction, but I don’t notice it here.

It’s the same with OS X. Computer savvy people love it because it’s efficient, and non-techies love it because it’s idiot-proof. It’s the reason why so many are switching - it appeals to a diverse crowd.

The people in my office go to lunch every day, and so far all of the restaurants require us to pay at the register, after we’re done eating. This means we don’t have to divide the bill and end up short, or give 5 different credit cards. Every meal is charged separately. And we tip more that way, too. Paying takes about 3 minutes and then we’re back to the office. This system is appealing to the father of four who is paying for the entire meal, and it’s appealing to the group of 10 who are splitting the bill. Boom.

So why is this so hard for designers to do? For the same reason that scope creep happens - we start out with goals in mind, and then we run low on resources, the requirements begin to slowly mutate, and we end up with a completely inefficient system. There are places in DC where you can literally see where the scope crept - new roads were created and the designers attempted to link the old roads in a completely convoluted way, road signs weren’t replaced/added, and there are a bunch of spots where you can’t turn around if you miss an exit.

It happens more than frequently Lowest possible costs trumps good project management.  The little things become acceptable because they cost less.  And soon, the little things add up to a pile of tangled wires.  DC can’t really fix its problem now, since all the money has been spent, and a “fix” would involve an entire re-creation. But cities are around for decades, and new changes are done all the time. The hard part is thinking about what might happen in advance, and then optimizing the solution so that we don’t get a completely useless system.

Lessons: scope creep happens. It happens fast and quietly. If your budget is even remotely tight, you won’t recover from it when it becomes a monster.