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Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

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Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#21

Post by cubicle67 »

mrb wrote: post #17
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #12

The responses were exactly what I would have expected to see: so many conflicting priorities and groups that nobody can actually solve the problem. This is a standard problem at large companies and one of the reasons they are able to be disrupted by technology and market changes. There was a lot of jot potato in the thread, but I don't think it signifies anything negative about the people trying to solve the problem.…

And this is why Apple's software and devices are more usable than Microsoft's: one very powerful person at the top, Steve Jobs, dictates what he wants, precisely. No inter-group fighting, or conflicting priorities.

No inter-group fighting, or conflicting priorities.

I'd put good money on the opposite being the case. I get the impression there's a lot of passionate people working at apple, and passion doesn't yield lightly

Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#23

Post by lurker14 »

sriramk wrote: post #6

Bill actually mentioned this in in another interview (can't find that now, I think it was around the time of his retirement from MSFT - it could have been at an internal event). He basically said something like - I don't know why people think that the email is something weird or unique. This is my job and I do it all the time. My personal take - I actually blame Bill for this. The real cause of the situation is how t…

People think the email is weird or unique because they are surprised that Bill Gates made 40 Billion dollars by running a company that builds products that bring intense pain to it users, and he appears to as frustrated as anyone else about the problem, and yet is completely powerless to stop it, even though he is in charge of everyone involved.

It's bizarre to see someone who knows he is doing everything wrong and is flailing about to stop it, yet is drowning in money coming from his mistakes.

Microsoft has been a slow-motion train wreck for 15 years, surviving off the phenomenal success of early Windows, and it has been fascinating to get peeks inside the conflagration.

Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#24

Post by JeffffreyF »

fraserharris wrote: post #10
sriramk wrote: post #6

Bill actually mentioned this in in another interview (can't find that now, I think it was around the time of his retirement from MSFT - it could have been at an internal event). He basically said something like - I don't know why people think that the email is something weird or unique. This is my job and I do it all the time. My personal take - I actually blame Bill for this. The real cause of the situation is how t…

Usability is hard. This superficially simple example crosses many products / teams (being Microsoft, we are talking about 100s of people involved). A small startup has the same challenges because your engineers build features, not user experiences. It takes a great product manager to advocate effectively for the user.

It's not at all hard, it's a philosophical problem. They simply believe their concerns are more important than the users. It's not hard or complicated, they're just philosophicaly fools because they believe what they want matters. It doesn't, and they can't wrap their heads around that. It doesn't at all when customers suffer because all they get depends on customers getting what they need. It's a simple concept that they don't understand because they are deluded into thinking they are worth more, by virtue of their status and positions. A delusion that they spend most of their energy defending. You simply cannot serve two masters, and this is Capitalism at it's finest.

Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#25

Post by wisty »

fraserharris wrote: post #10
sriramk wrote: post #6

Bill actually mentioned this in in another interview (can't find that now, I think it was around the time of his retirement from MSFT - it could have been at an internal event). He basically said something like - I don't know why people think that the email is something weird or unique. This is my job and I do it all the time. My personal take - I actually blame Bill for this. The real cause of the situation is how t…

Usability is hard. This superficially simple example crosses many products / teams (being Microsoft, we are talking about 100s of people involved). A small startup has the same challenges because your engineers build features, not user experiences. It takes a great product manager to advocate effectively for the user.

I know usability is hard, but this is just an install. It's not like he's actually up to making a movie, yet.

The user "stories" (are these even stories?) should be:

1 - Bill types "movie maker" or "moviemaker" into a search box (any search box) in the Microsoft website.

2 - A button / link that says "Download Microsoft Movie Maker!" appears on the first page (preferably the first link).

3 - Bill clicks the link.

4 - A dialogue box on Bill's computer say "Do you really want install Microsoft Movie Maker?"

5 - A dialogue box asks "Do you want to make shortcuts on the desktop / start menu?".

6 - A dialogue box asks "Do you want to launch Microsoft Movie Maker now?".

That's 6 steps. People should know what they have to do, if they are getting in the way of those steps.

Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#26

Post by res0nat0r »

Can we blame Microsoft for starting the trend of top replying to emails? Since I had to scroll to the bottom of this pdf to read the original message from Bill Gates I'm going to say yes. That is a terrible usability issue I've have to deal with every day for years which I hate. I'd love to go back to the days of plain text and > indented replies.

Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#27

Post by DaveMebs »

lurker14 wrote: post #23
sriramk wrote: post #6

Bill actually mentioned this in in another interview (can't find that now, I think it was around the time of his retirement from MSFT - it could have been at an internal event). He basically said something like - I don't know why people think that the email is something weird or unique. This is my job and I do it all the time. My personal take - I actually blame Bill for this. The real cause of the situation is how t…

People think the email is weird or unique because they are surprised that Bill Gates made 40 Billion dollars by running a company that builds products that bring intense pain to it users, and he appears to as frustrated as anyone else about the problem, and yet is completely powerless to stop it, even though he is in charge of everyone involved. It's bizarre to see someone who knows he is doing everything wrong and i…

This mail is from 3 years after Gates stepped down as CEO. I think you are trying to use this to reaffirm your personal beliefs about MSFT, rather than use this form your beliefs about the company. You seem to think that because MSFT made Gates a ton of money, the company should be perfect. The fact that you find it bizarre for a founder to be actively involved in his company's products and working to highlight areas needing improvement is, frankley, bizarre.

Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#28

Post by sorbus »

tzs wrote: post #7

Is there a better link for that document? Slated.org blocks large swathes of the internet from accessing them. If they think your ISP uses something called "phorm" you get blocked and told to find a better ISP. Unfortunately, their block is not well done. For instance, Sprint the ISP apparently used "phorm" and was blocked. However, the block also caught anyone whose packets ended up getting routed over Sprint the ma…

Does the link to scribd not work (such links are inserted in brackets whenever HN detects a story going to a pdf)? It doesn't give you the pdf, so you have to read it in the browser, but it seems perfectly functional otherwise.

Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#29

Post by watmough »

JeffffreyF wrote: post #24
fraserharris wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usability is hard. This superficially simple example crosses many products / teams (being Microsoft, we are talking about 100s of people involved). A small startup has the same challenges because your engineers build features, not user experiences. It takes a great product manager to advocate effectively for the user.

It's not at all hard, it's a philosophical problem. They simply believe their concerns are more important than the users. It's not hard or complicated, they're just philosophicaly fools because they believe what they want matters. It doesn't, and they can't wrap their heads around that. It doesn't at all when customers suffer because all they get depends on customers getting what they need. It's a simple concept that…

I don't think you can blame capitalism for this. Apple does this stuff right, and they make money.

[aside: I paid $15 for iMovie 11 the other day, and I think I entered my App store password to confirm purchase, iMovie dropped into my dock, done.]

Continuing, it's more likely that MS execs, managers, just have the wrong incentives. I have never worked at MS, but I'd imagine you get promoted for having people under you, for shipping software, for meeting deadlines. None of these things directly address user experience.

Is there even a high level user experience person at Microsoft, outside of say, XBox, which obviously does have some serious UX work in it?

edit: for q mark.

Re: Flame from Bill Gates Re: Windows Usability

#30

Post by watmough »

zmonkeyz wrote: post #5

For me the real meat is how the situation is handled after Bill G's email. Lots of hot potato going on. :)

Yes, this is the proverbial 'possum under the floor' problem.

No one really has the power to change any of this stuff, without buy-in, and relinquishment of power across a shitload of teams.

Ergo, it can't be done unless BillG or SteveB personally knocks a lot of heads together.

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