I found an excellent post on the It Toolbox blog today. It’s refreshing to hear someone in IT really deal with the important issues that most IT departments still have a hard time getting.
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One of my favorite things though was I went to the bio section of the blog and read this:
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“I believe that the burden is on technologists to continually prove the value and worth of IT.”
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“My mission: to expose the IT con.”
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Here are three of the important points that he makes:
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Users aren't Born Stupid, You Train Them to be That Way
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"Why do those idiots keep hitting that button?" is heard in IT shops much more frequently than "Why don't we get rid of that button?"
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Why? Because we are smarter than they are. That's why we're in IT.
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How many times have you been annoyed at a website for the number of *Required fields you had to fill out before you could proceed? Now imagine going to that website 200 times a day and having to fill out all those damned *Required fields. Now you start to get an idea of what users go thru when you roll out your flashy new system with all the ooh ahs everyone loved in the demos. There's a good reason "lakjdlaksdjlaskdjlaskdj" is found in so many databases: users have to type SOMETHING to move on.
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You want to make your system easier to use than to not use.
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Convincing the caveman to come out of the cave is more effective and long lasting than throwing him out of the cave.
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Users know the business better than you do, whoever you are. If you are willing to learn, you can change the world.
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If the Solution Seems Too Simple, Use It
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“All this eventually breaks down to a 0 or a 1, true/false, left/right, up/down, black/white, whatever/whatever else. Most basic fact in the universe: is or isn't.”
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“So why do so many technologists opt for the cool, complicated, "only 10 people in the world…" solution? Because they're stupid and they're scared. Too stupid to appreciate the sophistication of simplicity; too scared that, if it's that simple, anyone can do it. Juniors go complicated, seniors go sophisticated.”
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Even as I read these words though some of the responses to this post are digging at the author such as this one:
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“People find this article fantastic? Really? Its just stating the obvious with overused cliché…what is its value???”
”OBVIOUSLY the purpose of every IT department is to meet the business’ needs and an objective…that’s the only thing you really need to know.”
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The reason why It has had such a bad name is because of people like the one just quoted. The things that were written here weren’t overused cliches but dealt with some of the core problems of IT. Continually reminding IT people of this is a job that shouldn’t ever end. Most don’t follow the “cliché.”
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Then the final statement seals it: “The purpose of “every” IT department is to meet the business’ needs and an objective…? That’s it! No consumer needs here? No what is easiest for end use?
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Like I said, that’s why we need guys like Dratz working to expose this continuing problem that refuses to go away.
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