Good Idea! Now find a better one.

Technology is cool. It looks cool, makes us look cool, and has improved our quality of life in incalculable ways.

And it aggravates us to no end.

We sift through hundreds of features in our software to find the one we actually need. We suffer through clunky interfaces just to fight with a bleeding edge gadget for a whiz-bang feature with 5 minutes of utility and an eternity of gimmick.

Too much technology is made for technology’s sake with only a token thought for the humans who actually use it.

Glen Reynolds of InstaPundit has an article in the May issue of Popular Mechanics, Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital.

Not so long ago, if I wanted to adjust the heat in my car, or the volume on my car radio, I could grab a nice, simple knob. Turn it to the right, and the car got warmer, or the radio got louder. Turn it the other way, and the opposite occurred. I could always sense how far I was adjusting things — without ever taking my eyes off the road — because millions of years of evolution have produced a neurological feedback mechanism that lets me know just how much I’m turning my wrist.

Easy, effective, intuitive.

We could look at this purely as a design issue. Minimalism versus Simplicity. Whereas Minimalism wants fewer knobs and dials compressed into one beautifully stark design, Simplicity wants however many or few knobs and dials it takes to let a human do what they value most, effortlessly.

A older post on Garr Reynolds Presentation Zen, Gates, Jobs, & the Zen aesthetic, turned me on to a great quote:

“Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means.”
— Dr. Koichi Kawana

“Maximum effect with minimum means” doesn’t mean 800 functions in one knob! Maximum effect is achieved through what is most valuable. Not only are Functions 5 through 800 less valuable, their presence detracts from “maximum effect”.

It’s iDrive versus iPod.

And even deeper than design: For whom is technology created? People, People, People. It doesn’t matter how cool, fast, small, efficient or new; if no human values it, it’s worthless.

“But I’ve got a cool widget that would make life better for all pets everywhere!” Talk to the owners, ’cause the pets ain’t listenin’.

Have you seen a commercial for cat food recently? The slow motion shots of luscious, scrumptious, moist cat food? Can a cat understand any of that? Of course not. Would a human find cat food appealing? I hope not.

So why talk about how cat food tastes? Because it’s not about the cat at all. It’s all about the owner, the human. High end cat food exists because of the value people place on giving the best to their cats. It’s about people.

Cat food marketers have figured this out, but too many in the high technology business have not.

And what happens when we don’t “get it”?

Complex interfaces exposed to drivers while ignoring the potential of an undistracted passenger.

Unnecessary technology mashed into washing machines while ignoring the problem of how to wash and dry 6 loads of clothes without baby-sitting the machine very 45 minutes.

Do I need to mention that my cell phone needs rebooting every day?

It’s about people. Not features. Not specs. Not throughput. Not cool. Not sexy. Not trendy. People.