The output supplies more decimal places than we need and uses labels that may not be helpful [...] But, as usual with software, we can ignore distractions and find the results we need.
The above is taken from my Statistics book. It was written as a comment to an illustration of the output of some statistical software. It is the embodiment of what is wrong with software nowadays, why a lot of people still don’t get it and don’t use it.
About 15 years ago I first saw a computer. Back then, there were command line interfaces and pixelated princesses waiting to be rescued. It was a new world that I was excited to learn about, and the slow ascent meant it as a lot of rapidly-changing technology I had to just look at from the sides. But no matter, I got where I am and it is good.
But many don’t first look at a computer and “fall in love” with it. Many sit down at a computer as part of their job and realise they need to understand the tool just so as to use it. And these people are those that suffer the most from the inaptitude of many software companies to create a self-explaining interface.
Everybody that has touched on software from the professional standpoint (and not only) knows of the 80-20 rule: that 80% of the time spent in an application is focused using 20% of the features of that application. The saying is old and even before I have taken interest in design I had known about it. I have generally interpreted it as a reminder to really pay attention to those areas, in terms of functionality and bug-freeness1, not so much as a way to think how that one-fifth of functionality can really be made easy and friendly to use.
Yet, I now believe form itself is a feature; indeed, form is function all the way. Wherever a serious compromise between data and its graphical representation must be made, either or both need to be rethought. Distractions in how data is represented block the user. Beyond the obvious interest that geeks may manifest in how something works, most people aren’t interested in the “under-the-hood” aspects, nor should they be bothered to observe them. A user2 generating pie-charts or computing summary statistics has absolutely no interest in how your application does what it is doing. Exposing inadequacies in representation — yes, even minor glitches in the UI — break the user’s flow, the user’s capacity to truly work with your application.
There should be no distractions in software. There should be clarity as to what the output is and what it represents. There should be no forgetting that software is designed to make life easier and more manageable, not to add a layer of complexity to it.
