Sometimes people notice improved design and usability when something better comes along to replace an old way of doing something.

Examples:

* Can Openers – An ergonomic design so that it does not break your hand when using it
* Tivo – so you don’t have to program the VCR any more
* Google – more accurate and simpler searching
* Octopus Smartcards – used for Hong Kong transport (driven by the need to move many people on a given day)

So design and usability should always go hand in hand and communicating the actual improvement to people and business helps if you have a design to show and talk to (versus just numbers and reports).

rgds,
Dan

While in many cases usability might not seem to matter, there are a lot of cases where it does. Usability probably changed the course of a presidential election in 2000. I wrote up stuff about that then, including an email I got from John Palmer, who deals with industrial accidents where usability is life and death important. As more and more things move to being controlled by web browsers, even web usability will really matter, including with health care related as well as industrial and financial. Here are some URLs:

http://danbricklin.com/log/usabilityandsafety.htm
http://danbricklin.com/log/ballotusability.htm
http://danbricklin.com/log/ballottest.htm

I include this material (and some more relating to industrial accidents) in my new book that should be coming out by next month, Bricklin on Technology. I’ll send a copy to UIE.

-Dan Bricklin