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“Just remove the duck” (2013)

rachelbythebay.com

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Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#61

Post by ertdfgcb »

TallGuyShort wrote: post #42
mvdwoord wrote: post #8

A story from the time recounts that Piero Soderino, the head of the powerful Florentine Republic, even told the famously irascible Michelangelo that David's nose was much too large. Michelangelo then hid some marble dust in his hand, climbed back up his ladder and pretended to do some more "chiseling" on the offending proboscis. While he did so, he let some marble dust fall from his hand. The pompous Soderino was foo…

Not a huge Steve Jobs fan, but I had a professor who had worked as a designer under Steve Jobs and tried something similar. Steve insisted that a new mouse needed to be just a fraction of a millimetre slimmer so a person's palm was lower and closer to the work surface. They figured he was being an unreasonable "delicate genius" and returned a few days later with the identical mouse and claimed they had reworked it to…

Reminds me of this Koan:

Sen no Rikyu, a tea-master, wished to hang a flower basket on a column. he asked a carpenter to help him, directing the man to place it a little higher or lower, to the right or left, until he had found exactly the right spot. "That's the place," said Sen no Rikyu finally.

The carpenter, to test the master, marked the spot and then pretended he had forgotten. Was this the place? "Was this the place, perhaps?" the carpenter kept asking, pointing to various places on the column.

But so accurate was the tea-master's sense of proportion that it was not until the carpenter reached the identical spot again that its location was approved.

from here: http://www.ashidakim.com/zenkoans

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#62

Post by wavefunction »

tormeh wrote: post #33
wambotron wrote: post #20

I worked at a deli during college, and people did this same type of thing on slices. By default, I'd always pick a pretty thin slice. Most people really like thinly sliced meats. The first thing you do is slice once and show them the slice, making sure it fits what they wanted. 99% of the time, people would say "thinner," I would pretend to fiddle with the knob, slice the same thickness, and they'd say "perfect!" I t…

In the case of managers I think it reassures them. If the product was good enough before they got involved, that means they weren't actually needed and that's not a cool feeling.

Bad managers maybe. A good manager's work is done when they don't have to do anything "hands on" and the product is great.

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#63

Post by serve_yay »

hoopism wrote: post #13
wilwade wrote: post #7

NPR had a story about this in graphic design where it has the term "Hairy Arms": http://www.npr.org/2014/11/17/364760847/whats-with-all-of-th...

I've heard about this before. The person who was telling me about it said that in almost all cases the C-level person they were dealing with would choose the "hairy arm". Had an unintended way of backfiring frequently.

In this scenario, the "hairy arm" could also be considered a way of "thinking out of the box", of trying something that's totally outside how you normally create. Maybe the novelty inherent in that was attractive to the clients, if the work really was considered "bad" and not just different.

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#64

Post by bernardom »

JonnieCache wrote: post #50
mvdwoord wrote: post #8

A story from the time recounts that Piero Soderino, the head of the powerful Florentine Republic, even told the famously irascible Michelangelo that David's nose was much too large. Michelangelo then hid some marble dust in his hand, climbed back up his ladder and pretended to do some more "chiseling" on the offending proboscis. While he did so, he let some marble dust fall from his hand. The pompous Soderino was foo…

There are countless fables about record company executives dropping by the mastering studio to hear the new hit in its finished form. They'd inevitably make some ill-posed request, of the familiar "it needs to pop more!" variety. The wily engineer directs them towards a large and important looking knob, telling them that they are free to dial in as much "pop" as they think the track needs. Of course, they screw up th…

One of the famous tricks in ops consulting is to disconnect the knobs. Shift A likes this oven temperature, shift B likes that oven temperature, etc.

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#65

Post by janfoeh »

agumonkey wrote: post #56
TallGuyShort wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would probably enjoy watching Leverage :)

Don't think I've ever heard of it, will duly watch ;)

If you enjoy Leverage, Hustle might also be up your alley: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379632/

That's where I got my fix after Leverages' somewhat premature demise.

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#66

Post by madaxe_again »

JonnieCache wrote: post #50
mvdwoord wrote: post #8

A story from the time recounts that Piero Soderino, the head of the powerful Florentine Republic, even told the famously irascible Michelangelo that David's nose was much too large. Michelangelo then hid some marble dust in his hand, climbed back up his ladder and pretended to do some more "chiseling" on the offending proboscis. While he did so, he let some marble dust fall from his hand. The pompous Soderino was foo…

There are countless fables about record company executives dropping by the mastering studio to hear the new hit in its finished form. They'd inevitably make some ill-posed request, of the familiar "it needs to pop more!" variety. The wily engineer directs them towards a large and important looking knob, telling them that they are free to dial in as much "pop" as they think the track needs. Of course, they screw up th…

That sounds like web development. If I had a penny for every time we're asked for more zazz, pop, pow, shazam, zing, shizzle, pizazz, "something", cowbell...

I'd use them to bury the meddling fuckers who ask for this shit.

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#67

Post by agumonkey »

dagw wrote: post #17
kendallpark wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could backfire. I knew someone that presented a bunch of options to a PM with very clear worse options. PM ended up picking the three worst ones.

Then you simply complement him on how "courageous" his decision is.

Let's keep digging that trail.

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#68

Post by throwawayaway »

masklinn wrote: post #44
TallGuyShort wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a huge Steve Jobs fan, but I had a professor who had worked as a designer under Steve Jobs and tried something similar. Steve insisted that a new mouse needed to be just a fraction of a millimetre slimmer so a person's palm was lower and closer to the work surface. They figured he was being an unreasonable "delicate genius" and returned a few days later with the identical mouse and claimed they had reworked it to…

Yes it's a move which works when people demand changes in order to leave their mark or to be seen as "doing something"[0], it doesn't work in the case of people demanding changes because they actually want these changes. [0] an attitude I find myself unthinkingly adopting when doing reviews.

i have the guilts reviewing work of non native english speakers and asking them to rename functions after review.

hard to ask for it without it seeming completely petty, particularly when everything else is perfect. it does represent a minor improvement.

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#69

Post by throwawayaway »

madaxe_again wrote: post #66
JonnieCache wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are countless fables about record company executives dropping by the mastering studio to hear the new hit in its finished form. They'd inevitably make some ill-posed request, of the familiar "it needs to pop more!" variety. The wily engineer directs them towards a large and important looking knob, telling them that they are free to dial in as much "pop" as they think the track needs. Of course, they screw up th…

That sounds like web development. If I had a penny for every time we're asked for more zazz, pop, pow, shazam, zing, shizzle, pizazz, "something", cowbell... I'd use them to bury the meddling fuckers who ask for this shit.

flaming skull gifs.

Re: “Just remove the duck” (2013)

#70

Post by jnem »

madaxe_again wrote: post #66
JonnieCache wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are countless fables about record company executives dropping by the mastering studio to hear the new hit in its finished form. They'd inevitably make some ill-posed request, of the familiar "it needs to pop more!" variety. The wily engineer directs them towards a large and important looking knob, telling them that they are free to dial in as much "pop" as they think the track needs. Of course, they screw up th…

That sounds like web development. If I had a penny for every time we're asked for more zazz, pop, pow, shazam, zing, shizzle, pizazz, "something", cowbell... I'd use them to bury the meddling fuckers who ask for this shit.

The words I dread the most are, "it needs more wow factor". I always ask, "great, can yoh show me what that looks like?"
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