I was surfing around the web today, and came across a post from Seth Godin called The end of dumb software. It can best be summed up with the ending paragraph:
The people who make desktop software are making themselves obsolete. When you start developing on the web, your default is to be smart, to interact and to be open (with other software and with your users). Desktop software (like Word) is insanely unaware of what I do, why I do it and who I do it with. Right now, the desktop folks have the momentum of the incumbent. Not for long. Time to hurry.
Seth is absolutely right. The de facto standard of enterprise web development today is something that not only looks pretty, but something that is intuitive. More often than not, people have spent time designing the interface, gathering end user feedback and refining it before the official launch. Why is the same care not taken with desktop applications?
I’d also like to expand on Seth’s point by saying the same chasm exists between internal applications (e.g. intranet) and external applications (e.g. a web site) too.
It’s usually not the developer’s fault either. Many times in my career I’ve heard the phrase “it’s only for internal users”, which implies “hurry the heck up and finish it”. There is a mindset that internal users are not as important as external users. I don’t agree. I’m not saying everything on your company’s intranet needs to be a piece of art. It would be overkill to conduct internal usability studies on a small internal application of limited use and scope. If your application is important, if its going to see a lot of use, you need to put just as much care into it. Why?
These same internal users are actually your fellow employees. You probably even know some of them. If they spend most of their day in your application, if its not a joy to use, just like any other user, they will dislike using it. Where do you think that leads? It leads to people who don’t enjoy their job as much. People who maybe get upset or cranky at times. The same people who might be cranky when talking to a customer. The same customer who will not enjoy the customer service and not come back, taking their dollars with them.
Internal users ARE customers. They should enjoy using your software. Stand up for your users. They deserve better.
