Sunday, 16 March 2014

Topic 4- Article that describes how a major company evaluates its software (UX movement- Apple)


During the product software evaluation phase it is pertinent to gather feedback on the users perceptions and experiences and if they meet the user experience goals. Usability testing and experiments using field studies, cognitive walkthroughs, heuristics evaluation, and pluralistic walkthrough are some of the commonly used methods.

This article by “UX movement”, discusses on why Apple’s evaluators do not seek solutions or product improvements from the end users but should only use evaluation to ascertain what works or does not work.

Apple the lifestyle computer company, uses an evaluation approach that seems to not pay much heed to end users suggestions on how to improve the usability of the software.  

It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.
– Steve Jobs

According to Apple’s former CEO Steve Jobs, people themselves are not sure of what they exactly need and hence are not in the best position to provide solutions. Instead users are more useful for pointing out potential problems in the software. It is the job of the designer to come up with solutions to improve the user experience.

Website: UX movement

http://uxmovement.com/thinking/interpretation-of-a-steve-jobs-quote/

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