Hey ThoughtWorkers,
So at TWU we learned about a ton of different ways to test software: Unit Tests, Functional Testing, GUI Testing, etc. Here’s my question:
What’s the point of a tested tool that the user (or perhaps customer, if you prefer) finds difficult to actually use? What about Usability Testing? How about testing to see if your deliverables meet the problems found during analysis? Where do these kinds of testing come in?
Sincerely,
Josh
I’ve been hard at work on a new template for my blog. It should be up soon, once I figure out this whole WordPress Themes thing…it seems harder than I had originally imagined. Here’s a sneak preview:
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For the past few days I’ve been trying out some of the music recommendation services out there. I really like the idea that my computer can help me find new music to listen to. When I was using Last.fm I noticed that the words they use for rating music really don’t fit with my mental model at all. As you can see in the image below, Last.fm asks be whether I “Love” the song, or if they should “Ban” it. What if my opinion is somewhere in the middle!? This rating scheme is just too extreme. Or maybe it’s just a wording issue.
On the other hand, Pandora, uses language that is simple, and matches my mental model. While listening to each song, I can either tell Pandora that “I like it” or “I don’t like it”. Of course, I’d still like to rate it somewhere in the middle, but still, the less harsh wording encourages me to give my opinion. When the words are harsh, I’m less likely to agree with the system. That means I’ve been ignoring Last.fm’s rating feature altogether!
That’s just my two cents on the matter. Soon enough I’ll be heading over to MyStrands to give Justin‘s employer a go at this whole music recommendation thing. 😉
I just wanted to make a note that the experiences of those who live in the Diamond District’s (infamous?) G-Block live a very different life from those of us who live in other parts of the District. Not that I’m whining, you should just realize that there are some major differences in your experiences. Here’s a list of things I’ve noted:
Am I missing anything?
You know Craigslist, right? Great site, right? I definitely think so. The content is fantastic. The kinds of interactions it creates are possibly better than any other website on the entire interweb. You know what I don’t like about it?
It is horrifically UGLY.
You’re not allowed to disagree with me. You just aren’t.
Now it seems someone has come along and tried to do something about it. Design Eye for the List Guy has done a redesign and I love it. It keeps the old Craigslist style, but moves it forward with a beautiful new design. Really well done, I say.
(Or at least ThoughtWorks India)
Rarely does one ever hear the sound of phones ringing in the office. I didn’t realize this until this afternoon when an office phone rang…a sound that was oddly unfamiliar to me.
My hypothesis is that all the interaction is either happening in-person or over instant messenger, rendering the telephone relatively useless. TWIers, any opinions?
Just another day at ThoughtWorks, or at least ThoughtWorks University. While we were designing the interface (and experience) for a new internal tool, we involved some real future users. In this photo, the Analyst team is carrying out a study with a low fidelity prototype, which led to a pretty sweet interface design, if I do say so myself.
Pictured, from the left: Deepti, Bonna, (anonymous user), Stuart, and me (Josh). Not pictured: Zaynab, who’s taking notes behind the camera.
We did it! Check out the ThoughtWorks University class of Monsoon2006, just post-graduation.
I know, I know. You’re all going to scold me, I’m sure. I haven’t blogged in a while, and you, my ever-patient readership have become quite used to me not spewing out any of the drivel that you’re used to seeing on my weblog. I’ll try to do better. I really will.
The past few weeks have been intense. Last week, the 5th week of ThoughtWorks University, the Analyst team had a number of late nights. We carried out a ThoughtWorks Quickstart, a short and intense period of analysis. I think these generally take a few weeks or perhaps a month, but we only had one week. We created over 40 stories, with detailed narratives, as well as awesome lo-fi and mid-fi prototypes. Of course, we also carried out some Usability, which solidified a lot of our ideas and interface designs. All in all, our “customers” (who were really just a few of our trainers) seemed happy with our results and we were hurdled into a frenzied development week that has been taking place over the past few days.
Development has been CRAZY! It turns out that we completely overestimated our velocity when we created our high-level release plan. We kind of knew this when we set out on the week, but I don’t think we realized the resulting implications of such an overestimation. Having to tell a client that you’re behind schedule, and then having to do it again the next day (and then again the next day) is just plain ol’ tough. Even if the “customer” is really just a trainer who’s posing as an unhappy client.
Still, the learning experience has been great. Tomorrow we’ll hopefully have some sort of release, then we’ll graduate from TWU. What a journey. So fast, and so educational, in oh-so-many ways. What a journey…
Now, I try to stay away from such technical subjects, but I’m just wondering: Is there any way to make our web applications go faster? Why do sites like Wikipedia and other content-rich tools (like Confluence, for all you TWers) have to load soooooooooooooooo slooooooooowly? It really inhibits my attention span.
