Developing Usable Experiences

The dynamics of computer-mediated debate

March 11th, 2008 9:44 pm —  213 views

rocks.JPG

Being a person of technical persuasion,1, I subscribe to Wired magazine. It is an interesting periodical for a number of reasons. For one, Bruce Schneier is known to contribute.2 This last issue of Wired had an article about the guys from 37 Signals, a development outfit popular for creating Ruby on Rails, Basecamp, and many other collaborative online applications.

The article was decent but alluded to (and illuminated) their attitude about development and their interest in meeting their own needs first. In response, a well known usability expert, Don Norman3, wrote a critical essay about 37 signals asking why they were so arrogant. One of the guys at 37 Signals responded on the company blog with a post on why he doesn’t agree with Don Norman. Though you may know nothing about these people, the dynamics of the situation are fascinating. Let me explain why.

From my perspective, Norman and the guy from 37 Signals are saying the same thing. Even though the interest and focus is developing useful things, they both recognize the importance of users. While they may seem to reject the more vocal users, those that actually use the systems tend to be quieter. There are those that are more vocal about their fringe interests and they tend to attract some notice. However, the bottom line is that they both seem to recognize they are not only designers, developers, and creators, but are also users.

They design and build stuff that they themselves would use. The fact that they are human and have similar needs as others is what leads to useful solutions and as the case may be, capitalistic endeavors. It’s all god4.

I’m working on a class project evaluating the blogosphere, or blogspace, from a behavioral science perspective. Over the last few days I’ve read research articles that seek to quantify the effect of blogging during crises and how organizational blogs cultivate a human connection. My personal experience is consistent with much of what is reported in these articles. Particularly an article I read on organizational blogs and the human voice.

Even though I’ve never met or communicated with Tom Glocer, his blog voice is direct and understandable. As a result I feel a sense of trust and engagement that makes me interested in his perspective. Nice work Tom. Very progressive and introspective. This seems to show your recognition of computer-mediated communication and it’s future.

Wrapping this up, I can’t help but wonder if the “debate” between 37 Signals and Don Norman isn’t orchestrated or even intentional. From a PR perspective, it certainly inspires reaction and involvement. After all, I’m posting about it. Interesting isn’t it? I certainly think it is.

Image: I took this picture last summer while hanging out at a beach in Mackinaw. Searching for a suitable image for this post, I was struck by the balance and passivity of this arrangement of rocks. Knowing me I was just being a dork taking pictures of the sand at the beach. But alas, it is an interesting picture, no?

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  1. Others terms include computer geek, nerd, technophialac, etc. [↩]
  2. And if you don’t know by now, I think Bruce is a brilliant and interesting person. [↩]
  3. A interesting note: the “about me” page at this site says absolutely nothing useful or personal about Don Norman himself, which is what one would expect from a link so named. Seriously, what the hell? [↩]
  4. And no, this isn’t a typo. I’ve been studying the idea of what is divine and agree with the Einsteinian approach that all is god and that such an approach doesn’t imply a personal being that designs and outlines all that evolves. Rather it is the evolving itself. Kind of an odd tangent here, eh? [↩]

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4 Comments 

Comments

4 Responses to “The dynamics of computer-mediated debate”

  1. Jason Fried on March 11th, 2008 11:53 pm

    Thanks for the write up.

    Regarding: “I can’t help but wonder if the “debate” between 37 Signals and Don Norman isn’t orchestrated or even intentional.”

    It wasn’t orchestrated or intentional. No one told us about Don’s post, we were alerted to it when we ran a search for “37signals” using Google Blog Search. Once we read it we decided we’d respond to clarify our position.

    It is good PR though, I agree ;)

  2. Spike on March 12th, 2008 8:36 am

    You’re very welcome!

    I value your perspective on development and was inspired by the simplicity imbued in your book, “Getting Real.”

    Myself and many that I know think Basecamp is the shix. If it weren’t for concern over proprietary information being stored on your servers, my team would likely be customers.

    You do my blog honor by leaving a comment here, so thanks.

  3. Melanie on March 12th, 2008 10:14 am

    That picture wasn’t arranged? You just came upon them in that formation? That’s cool; I love that image!

  4. Spike on March 12th, 2008 11:50 am

    My bad…I didn’t mean to imply that it was a natural arrangement.

    If I recall, I did this on purpose thinking it would be a cool picture so thanks for saying so!

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