The recurring metaphor in The Inmates are Running the Asylum is that of the dancing bear--the circus bear that shuffles clumsily for the amusement of the audience. Such bears, says author Alan Cooper, don't dance well, as everyone at the circus can see. What amazes the crowd is that the bear dances at all. Cooper argues that technology (videocassette recorders, car alarms, most software applications for personal computers) consists largely of dancing bears--pieces that work, but not at all well. He goes on to say that this is more often than not the fault of poorly designed user interfaces, and he makes a good argument that way too many devices (perhaps as a result of the designers' subconscious wish to bully the people who tormented them as children) ask too much of their users. Too many systems (like the famous unprogrammable VCR) make their users feel stupid when they can't get the job done.

Cooper, who designed Visual Basic (the programming environment Microsoft promotes for the purpose of creating good user interfaces), indulges in too much name-dropping and self-congratulation (Cooper attributes the quote, "How did you do that?" to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, upon looking at one of Cooper's creations)--but this appears to be de rigueur in books about the software industry. But those asides are minor. More valuable is the discourse about software design and implementation ("[O]bject orientation divides the 1000-brick tower into 10 100-brick towers."). Read this book for an idea of what's wrong with UI design. --David Wall

Topics covered: User interfaces--good ones and bad ones--and where they come from. Also, how to improve the ones you create.


From Book News, Inc.
Armed with solutions to the dilemma of how dependent every one of us is becoming on electronic products, the author argues that, despite appearances, business executives are simply not in control of the high-tech industry. He explains how talented people continuously design bad technology-based products and uses his own work to show businesses of all sizes how to harness talent to create products that will both thrill users and grow the bottom line. Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR


Book Description

Imagine, at a terrifyingly aggressive rate, everything you regularly use is being equipped with computer technology. Think about your phone, cameras, cars-everything-being automated and programmed by people who in their rush to accept the many benefits of the silicon chip, have abdicated their responsibility to make these products easy to use. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum argues that the business executives who make the decisions to develop these products are not the ones in control of the technology used to create them. Insightful and entertaining, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum uses the author's experiences in corporate America to illustrate how talented people continuously design bad software-based products and why we need technology to work the way average people think. Somewhere out there is a happy medium that makes these types of products both user and bottom-line friendly; this book discusses why we need to quickly find that medium.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Software￯﾿ﾽs everywhere: in your PC, your car, your camera, your alarm clock. Why is so much of it so darned infuriating? Because the inmates, a.k.a. programmers, are running the asylum, says Alan Cooper. He thinks it￯﾿ﾽs about time we became far more sophisticated, far more conscious about designing our software -- not just coding and shipping it.

The first edition of Cooper￯﾿ﾽs The Inmates Are Running the Asylum became an instant classic. It￯﾿ﾽs helped drive significant improvements in software usability -- among the fraction of business and technical leaders who￯﾿ﾽve taken it to heart. Now the book￯﾿ﾽs returned, with a thoughtful new preface. If you missed it the first time, don￯﾿ﾽt miss it this time: Its message is more urgent and compelling than ever. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2003 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Imagine, at a terrifyingly aggressive rate, everything you regularly use is being equipped with computer technology. Think about your phone, cameras, cars - everything - being automated and programmed by people who in their rush to accept the many benefits of the silicon chip, have abdicated their responsibility to make these products easy to use.