[Nettime-bold] Re: RHIZOME_RAW: GENERATION FLASH: Usability/Interaction

[John Klima <klima@echonyc.com>]

well, where to begin? i'll reiterate the "which user" problem. where do
you set the bar? the blue haired lady or the avid gamer. thats one good
reason not to even try to accomodate the user.

another reason is "standards" already established and ingrained. i met
someone who was angry with me, as the developer, for using a "click and
drag" interface instead of the standard "click and something happens"
interface. they were actually pissed!

its like thinking "maybe i shouldn't make that brushstroke because some
viewers wont like it, other viewers wont see it, and other viewers wont
understand it." 

no thanks, you drive yerself crazy worrying about the user.

j



Kanarinka wrote:
> 
> Why?
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Klima [mailto:klima@echonyc.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 2:49 PM
> To: Kanarinka
> Cc: 'Joseph Franklyn McElroy Cor[porat]e [Per]form[ance] Art[ist]';
> nettime-l@BBS.THING.NET; nettime@BBS.THING.NET; list@rhizome.org
> Subject: Re: RHIZOME_RAW: GENERATION FLASH: Usability/Interaction
> 
> all good points but i just don't want to *have* think about the end
> user, and i don't want a work to be assesed in terms of how well it
> accomodates them.
> j
> 
> Kanarinka wrote:
> >
> > I agree that the "which end user" issue cannot be solved unless you
> are
> > doing extensive demographic research on your artwork (yuk). Even then,
> > people designing software systems can never fully know the
> expectations
> > and actions of their end users. (I'm sure Microsoft has done lots of
> > usability testing but I still find it incredibly *&^*&ing annoying to
> > deal with images in Word docs)
> >
> > My point earlier was that usability and interaction are different
> things
> > entirely. Usability is administrative and necessary, interaction
> design
> > is creative and necessary.
> >
> > I think "form" in software/net design includes and is defined by the
> > structure of the interaction which is in turn defined by focusing on
> > why/how the user is going to approach, play, deal with, experience the
> > software in the first place.
> >
> > Form, in any given medium, stems from the formal properties of that
> > medium. In 2D mediums you speak of form in terms of color,
> composition,
> > texture, etc.
> >
> > The most distinguishing formal property of software from other mediums
> > is that it allows for interaction, that it is rule-based, that it
> allows
> > the creation of a participatory, experiential environment, however you
> > wanna say it.
> >
> > So form in software can also apply to the composition of the visuals
> on
> > the screen and to the structure of any audio, etc., included in the
> > piece, but in a software-driven artwork I would argue that the primary
> > formal areas that one has to deal with are in the design of the rules
> > for interaction...
> >
> > ...and really that comes down to thinking about the person at the end
> of
> > the line who will be experiencing the work...
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-list@rhizome.org [mailto:owner-list@rhizome.org] On Behalf
> > Of John Klima
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2002 12:34 PM
> > To: Joseph Franklyn McElroy Cor[porat]e [Per]form[ance] Art[ist]
> > Cc: nettime-l@BBS.THING.NET; nettime@BBS.THING.NET; list@rhizome.org
> > Subject: Re: RHIZOME_RAW: GENERATION FLASH: Usability/Interaction
> >
> > thinking about the end user has never been a *requirement* of art. and
> > once you start thinking about the end user you get into all those
> > diffic
> 
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