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by Alan Cooper SAMS: A Division of Macmillan Computer Publishing, 1999 ISBN: 0-672-31649-8 Cover Price: US$25.00 261 Pages |
Alan Cooper's second book, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High-Tech Products Drive us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity, should be required reading for every product and/or project manager struggling to improve the usability of a system or product. Before reading Inmates, I had only the vaguest idea of what "interaction design" was all about, but in less than 250 pages, Cooper gently led me through a radical paradigm shift that provided significant insight into many of the problems I've encountered in the twelve short years I've been in the software industry.
Cooper's claim to fame as the "Father of Visual Basic" and his long list of accomplishments in Silicon Valley give him plenty of credibility, but the sheer weight of the ideas and concepts presented in Inmates really enables them to stand on their own merit. After an entertaining first chapter that sets the stage with such subtitles as, "What Do You Get When You Cross a Computer with an Airplane?" and "Techno-Rage," Chapter 2 sets out to identify and label the central problem Cooper hopes to solve with interaction design. In fact, he coins a new phrase for this central problem: "cognitive friction."
Cognitive friction is "the resistance encountered by human intellect when it engages with a complex system of rules that change as the problem permutes." Complexity alone doesn't lead to cognitive friction; it is more the product of a lack of sensory feedback and the "meta" states that result from having controls with multiple functions. Cooper's contention is that interacting with software systems -- programming a VCR, for example -- is extremely high in cognitive friction. Playing a violin, however, is not.
Why? Cooper explains that playing a violin, although difficult, never results in a "meta" state, so that inputs to the violin do not come out sounding like a tuba or a bell, for example. When programming a VCR, the same little set of buttons often perform an annoying number of different functions, depending on the VCR's current state. Apparently, some cost-conscious hardware buyer figured that software is "free," but little plastic buttons are not. Not only is this supposition false, but also now millions of VCR owners (like my mother) have a constantly flashing "12:00" display on their VCR, because programming the silly clock is more trouble than it is worth.
(Aside: I find that programming VCR clocks without the instructions is not only challenging, but also safer than other extreme sports like mountain climbing. Why do I do it? Because it's there! And just for the record, my mother is a very brilliant lady with a doctoral degree who runs her own consulting business. She is simply not computer oriented like most Edge readers and has little inclination for extreme sports.)
Interaction Designers -- Owners of Product Quality
Cooper's thesis is that the role of the interaction designer is imperative for building quality systems in any discipline with a high cognitive friction quotient. The theme of his book is that interactive products need to be designed by interaction designers instead of software engineers. In a writing style that is both entertaining and articulate, Cooper argues that most systems users are Homo sapiens (like my mother) not Homo logicus, his tongue-in-cheek name for the species to which most software engineering types (like me) belong.
Cooper's pokes at the quirky nature of those of us in the computing profession are right on target and quite helpful in clarifying why so many software systems have such lousy interfaces. Software engineers logically develop interfaces that they would find useful. However most users, like dear old mom, don't think like a programmer. Cooper's solution to the self-centered design problem is to introduce an interaction designer; he also advocates the concept of developing for a "persona" as the most effective, yet profoundly simple, way to ensure better interaction design.
He also points out that as long as everyone is responsible for software quality, then no one is responsible. This provides a foundation for the central recommendation of his book: The interaction designer should be the ultimate owner of product quality.
Cooper devotes several chapters to expounding on his methodology, which he calls "Goal-Directed Design." He generously includes a solid overview, along with case studies on how his design teams at Cooper Interaction Design employ "personas" and a few other powerful tools.
As he urges the industry to turn to interaction designers, Cooper also does a good job of examining the psychological as well as the pragmatic consequences inherent in foisting yet another role onto the software development cast of characters. Had someone told me before I read the book that he would be advocating for this, I would have dismissed the idea out of hand, thinking that we had too many roles already. However, he successfully defends his thesis with powerful case-study examples and plenty of real-life war stories from the front lines of both successful and failed software projects.
Throughout the book, Cooper pulls no punches and isn't afraid to name names. Despite the fact that Bill Gates bestowed the Windows Pioneer Award on Cooper for his early work on Visual Basic and then gave him the Software Visionary Award in 1998, the harshest criticism in Inmates is directed at Microsoft. In fact, Cooper unequivocally states that any company willing to do real interaction design can compete head to head with Microsoft and win. He champions the underdog and even seems to be slightly bitter about Microsoft's ongoing practice of abusing end users with poorly designed software.
Anyone passionate about the software industry will enjoy this read. Most of all, non-technical users would benefit greatly if software development projects included the role of interaction designer as an integral part of the development process. (Are all you product managers out there listening?)
Dennis Elenburg, a Technical Representative on IBM Rational's Dallas sales team, joined the company in 2000. Prior to that he spent several years consulting for various telecom companies in North Texas and worked at Coopers and Lybrand (before the company's merger with PriceWaterhouse), as well as at EDS. He holds a BA in Physics from Austin College.
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