I like the description of polite and impolite software in an article by Whitworth and Liu on Politeness as a Social Computing Requirement. They cite Microsoft's habit of initiating software updates without asking the user's permission first as an example of impolite computing. Too right, especially when you haven't noticed it's happening in the background and the computer suddenly closes down to re-start after updating. Infuriating.
I guess the Dell insurance sales pitch I mentioned in March could qualify for the description 'impolite.'
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An occasional listing of notes and anecdotes on user-centred design
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Alison Black - I'm a psychologist and, having worked for many years in the design of user-centred products and services, am now Professor of User-Centred Design at University of Reading, UK.
Why Brain Attic?
In 'A Study in Scarlet' Arthur Conan Doyle wrote: "I believe that a man's brain is like a little empty attic, and you stock it with such furniture as you choose....the skillful workman will have...nothing but the tools which will help him doing his work..."
As we now know, Conan Doyle's analogy doesn't quite tell the full story of the brain but nevertheless this blog is a place for me to store notes that, if not logged here, might be forgotten.
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