Manual-writing is instructive

[jducoeur]

There's nothing like trying to write a tutorial to show you where your system is still too complicated. I'm currently writing up "Querki for the Impatient", a reasonably flying introduction to the system, and am finding myself adding simplifying enhancements to the to-do list as I go. (The Name vs. Display Name dichotomy *clearly* needs reworking...)

Comments

[umbran.livejournal.com]

There's one thing that usually shows it better - usability testing.

[jducoeur]

Certainly true, although the same comment applies here as to gyzki's point -- it's going to be a sadly long time before I have any money to pay somebody to do it properly.

So for the moment, I'm stuck doing it very seat-of-the-pants, wedged in among a hundred other priorities pulling at my attention. When I *am* able to hire, an actual UX pro is on my list of the first five -- I think it's one of the more important positions for this project...

[umbran.livejournal.com]

it's going to be a sadly long time before I have any money to pay somebody to do it properly.

No, it isn't.

Go read "Don't Make Me Think", by Steve Krug. Then revise your plans.

The book is not long, and written in a pleasant conversational tone, so it goes by quickly. I submit you can't really afford to *not* do what Krug recommends, and what he recommends is cheap. I did it over at Harvard, and we gleaned a far more information than you would expect.

[jducoeur]

Hmm. Okay, thanks for the pointer...