Comments on: The Twilight of Expertise (part 13: ICU doctors) http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/12/09/the-twilight-of-expertise-part-11-icu-doctors/ Self-Experimentation, Scientific Method, the Shangri-La Diet, etc. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:00:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 by: Mary (MPJ) http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/12/09/the-twilight-of-expertise-part-11-icu-doctors/#comment-86223 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:56:24 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/12/09/the-twilight-of-expertise-part-11-icu-doctors/#comment-86223 Interesting perspective. I used to work in user interface and don't see the problem being so much that design for an end user is female or low status, but that may be because I worked for companies that highly valued the usability of their products. The engineers and scientists who create the products have highly specialized knowledge in a very narrow field; they create the products in a way that makes sense to them and the way they view and interact with the world. Part of the problem is that there are very few people who understand both the way the end users are going to interact with the product and the way the engineers see the product. The process requires usability testing directly with the kind of people who will use the product; it requires people who carefully watch those interactions and can improve the design; and it requires people who can translate the design vision to the engineers in a way that they can understand it. Interesting perspective. I used to work in user interface and don’t see the problem being so much that design for an end user is female or low status, but that may be because I worked for companies that highly valued the usability of their products.

The engineers and scientists who create the products have highly specialized knowledge in a very narrow field; they create the products in a way that makes sense to them and the way they view and interact with the world. Part of the problem is that there are very few people who understand both the way the end users are going to interact with the product and the way the engineers see the product. The process requires usability testing directly with the kind of people who will use the product; it requires people who carefully watch those interactions and can improve the design; and it requires people who can translate the design vision to the engineers in a way that they can understand it.

]]> by: Tom http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/12/09/the-twilight-of-expertise-part-11-icu-doctors/#comment-86168 Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:43:38 +0000 http://www.blog.sethroberts.net/2007/12/09/the-twilight-of-expertise-part-11-icu-doctors/#comment-86168 Interesting insight about the three stages of industrial design. Apple seems to be proof of this idea. They dominate personal audio players (and have a good shot at dominating cellphones) despite being late entrants into both sectors. Before I had an iPod, I had an iRiver audio player -- great technology with an interface that made you want to slam it into the wall every time you used it. And I still have a cellphone that Verizon insists be loaded with its confusing, ugly interface, one that only allows it to store 50 txt messages (despite 90% of the phone's memory being empty.) Interesting insight about the three stages of industrial design. Apple seems to be proof of this idea. They dominate personal audio players (and have a good shot at dominating cellphones) despite being late entrants into both sectors.

Before I had an iPod, I had an iRiver audio player — great technology with an interface that made you want to slam it into the wall every time you used it. And I still have a cellphone that Verizon insists be loaded with its confusing, ugly interface, one that only allows it to store 50 txt messages (despite 90% of the phone’s memory being empty.)

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