[IxDA Discuss] Simplicity is Not Understood

[Esteban Barahona]

I have experienced this on proffesional graphic-creation software. Case in
point:

vector graphics

Inkscape is the free software competitor to Illustrator. It has done the job
quite well, in my case. However, this week I tryed -seriously, with time and
the Mac version- Illustrator. I looks neat, but Inkscape was much better at
the get-go. I drooled at the "power-user functionality" of Illustrator
(color profiles, etc). This 2 software will be on my "dock" sometime. But
for quick prototyping I prefer Inkscape.

Your work doesn't seem like one. It seems more like play ^_^

2007/1/18, John Schrag <John.Schrag at autodesk.com>:
>
>
> I wrote:
> >The group that only had a superficial look at the items overwhelmingly
> >chose the one with the most features.  But the groups that had a chance
>
> >to try them out overwhelmingly chose the easiest-to-use item, eschewing
>
> >lots of features in the process.
>
> Jim Drew replied:
> > Do you recall whether the study commented on learning curve and the
> > like?  Because I can easily picture picking up a box of moderately
> > sophisticated software -- say Final Cut or InDesign -- and being
> > impressed by the feature list, but having a 24-hour test window,
> > not being able to do anything beyond scratching the surface.  Many
> > of the advanced features missing from the "easier to use" product may
> > be important in long-range software purchase planning, and may
> complicate
> > the user experience due to their very presence.
>
> This particular study was looking at consumer electronics, if I recall
> rightly.  Objects that are about the complexity of cellphones, cameras,
> etc.
>
> Certainly there are differences between purchasing comsumer goods and
> professional level work software.  My own career has been spent mostly
> in the design of deep application software that is used 40 hours a week
> by its users -- who are themselves artists and designers.  Since most
> people now download trial versions or software before purchasing (or
> sometimes use cracked copies), my colleagues and I have spent a lot of
> time studying people's first experience with complex software (both our
> own and other's).
>
> While it is true that users don't expect to learn a great deal in the
> first hour or so, they absolutely must feel that they are accomplishing
> something and making some kind of progress --- or they will bail out of
> the free trial, and go find some other software with a comparable
> feature list.  In fact, early frustration can make some people give up
> after less that 20 minutes.  So a longer trial won't necessarily help,
> if the UX is bad at the get-go.  On the other hand, if your product is
> the only one that has the critical feature, you can probably get away
> with crappy design.  But your competitors won't let you keep that
> advantage for very long.
>
> -john
>
>
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