Changes and complaints

Posted Feb 23, 2012 11:47 UTC (Thu) by dgm (subscriber, #49227)
In reply to: Changes and complaints by Los__D
Parent article: Changes and complaints

> I'm just not a stubborn conservative, afraid of changing workflows.

Congratulations, more power to you. You just need to admit that not everybody has to be like you, and that not being like you is not the same as being wrong.

Changes and complaints

Posted Feb 23, 2012 12:02 UTC (Thu) by Los__D (guest, #15263) [Link] (4 responses)

I have no absolutely problem admitting that. But them wanting to dictate what changes i.e. GNOME are allowed to make not to destroy their precious workflow (which they could change in a heartbeat, if they were just willing, instead of wasting their time kicking and screaming), I DO have a problem with.

Changes and complaints

Posted Feb 23, 2012 19:08 UTC (Thu) by lacos (guest, #70616) [Link] (3 responses)

"But them wanting to dictate what changes i.e. GNOME are allowed to make not to destroy their precious workflow (which they could change in a heartbeat, if they were just willing, instead of wasting their time kicking and screaming), I DO have a problem with"

You are *completely* misguided. Why do you think enterprise customers pay big bucks for stable enterprise distros? Because their workflows take time to polish and then become money-printing presses, figuratively. If you mess with their stability or workflow, you mess with their money-making capability. Go tell them "change your workflow in a heartbeat" and they will laugh you out of the room.

It is *exactly* the same with "conservative" programmers. Their efficiency (and project success and income) depends *critically* on their specific polished version of HCI.

"Easy" GUIs make easy things easy and complex workflows impossible.
Flexible GUIs make easy things somewhat harder and complex workflows possible.

Anyway I've given up on both GNOME and KDE years ago after an initial meet & greet, so I won't try to dictate anything on your precious mailing lists.

Changes and complaints

Posted Feb 23, 2012 19:16 UTC (Thu) by Los__D (guest, #15263) [Link] (2 responses)

You are actually comparing company-wide workflows, which must be figured out by commission, planned and tested, to a user?

You seem to be the misguided one.

Changes and complaints

Posted Feb 23, 2012 19:52 UTC (Thu) by lacos (guest, #70616) [Link] (1 responses)

"You are actually comparing company-wide workflows, which must be figured out by commission, planned and tested, to a user"

I most definitely am. You may have heard about productivity differences between programmers up to a factor of 10. Personal workflow is a significant part of that. But let's not turn it into a competition between programmers: the Zone(TM) is critical for getting things done, and if I'm interrupted by GUI concepts every minute for two weeks while I readjust, I won't produce anything for two weeks. I can't reason about a bug if I have to fight the GUI. The changed GUI would force actions that have become motor skills into my conscious, derailing my train of thought.

Additionally, one facet of a company's workflow is usually broken down into regulations for human workforce. Checklists, protocols, action plans.

Changes and complaints

Posted Feb 24, 2012 3:50 UTC (Fri) by ncm (guest, #165) [Link]

Not just "a factor of 10". More like three factors of ten, e.g. one programmer outproducing 500 colleagues on a single project is documented.

Nobody expects software that has not been tested thoroughly to work. A new kernel data structure that turns out to slow down sensible or common job mixes is rejected, no matter how clever. Somehow, though, a person reporting that a new UI design does not turn out, upon testing, to work better, or to work well, or even to work tolerably is a "whiner". When a clever new UI scheme slows down important work, we get accusations of Luddism.

What I have never seen is somebody explain how to achieve the same level of productivity with the new UI as with the old. Typically it's not possible. Instead, the task newly crippled is summarily declared to be marginal and uninteresting. Is there any usage pattern that can't be disparaged that way? I have not encountered any. Ultimately, anyone, taken alone, can be labeled marginal, and ignored.

When you find yourself looking for excuses to ignore people, that's arrogance.