Usability on Slashdot
I missed this Ask Slashdot: Improving Software Usability? the other day (not suprising, I try to stay away from /.). It is interesting to see some of the responses, although it is a bit reminiscent of our own usability mailing lists. I am really happy to see a growing interest in software usability, but I fear for F/OSS falling for the same ‘usability expert’ boom we saw in the early 2000’s. It really is more than reading a book and following guidelines, and I am cynical towards this only to preserve the integrity of my work. Selfish? Perhaps, however I have a duty to myself and others doing lots of hard work to help keep the trust and quality of our work in place. On a lighter note I am also optimistic that this ‘publicity’ will help draw more usability and human factors professionals to work in F/OSS.