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Google understands users better than you think. They mine millions of interactions to see what people are doing so understand what is liked and not liked. This

Google understands users better than you think. They mine millions of interactions to see what people are doing so understand what is liked and not liked. This prank was not a data driven so back fired.

ocdtrekkie 11y ago
Google has automated this process. They don't do nearly enough actual interaction with actual users about problems. This is actually an example of what I'm talking about. Where they assume an automated data collector is more valuable than even just sitting down with one person and watching them use the website.
- swalsh 11y ago
  Google understands users the same way an AI will understand what a sunset is, and why people like to look at them. It'll be able to tell you it's yellow orange, happens at 6:10pm eastern time, from your GPS coordnates will be appear x cm wide, has a brightness value of y, etc. It'll understand the uniqueness of the color range. But the AI won't really understand why people watch a sunset.
- ryanobjc 11y ago
  So look, I literally can't even right about now. The UX researchers here at Google DO in fact sit down with many people and watch them use all sorts of parts of google, gmail, etc. In fact they go out of their way to run usability studies in various parts of the countries, because, you know, selection bias. Also automated data is collected. The real problem here is, if you have X million users, can you really know them as a unified set of people? Of course not. Sure this prank backfired, but hey, have some compassion for the people who worked on it. They were trying to be funny, and trying to bring a little light to people's life. There was no intention of ruining anyone's day.
  - ocdtrekkie 11y ago
    I am opted into their user studies group. I haven't seen a new invitation in a couple of years now. And the way they handle user studies, opt in via Google Form, they still see a particularly biased community: Hardcore Google users, most likely technical in nature. If Google went to a senior citizens' home, and watched how some of their less technically inclined users used their products, I'm confident Google would fire everyone with the word "designer" in their title and start over. But this is largely immaterial to this particular joke. The joke was funny. The choice to implement it for real was not.
    - ryanobjc 11y ago
      So, what you're saying is, from your limited view point, you have a conclusive overview of all of UX? Also, Google designers are intensely incompetent and deserve to be fired? I dunno, you sure are quick to judge a very difficult subject area.
      - ocdtrekkie 11y ago
        Google designers ARE intensely incompetent. And design's a pretty simple subject area. The problem is, designers need to justify their continued jobs, after a product is launched. So there's a constant set of increasingly more complicated overengineering projects to "redesign" things to stay "trendy". Generally sacrificing usability in exchange. Ever since Google hired their "VP of Design", their products have heavily shifted away from being functionally useful. There's a reason Gmail is the last bastion of competent design at Google. There's a reason that even Googlers said they wouldn't use Gmail if Inbox became the "new Gmail", and this is probably where this conversation rounds back to this prank: You don't %$@# with email.
        jhall1468 11y ago
        What does constitute good design? Does this: http://www.ocdtrekkie.com/ http://www.ocdtrekkie.com/ Because if that is "functionally useful" then I will happily continue using trendy. The thing with design is that it is not a simple subject area. You are constantly balancing several (somtimes mutually exclusive) objectives. At the end of the day, blame end-users. They use the products that are "trendy" and look nice. They dictate good design.
Philadelphia 11y ago
Data needs to be interpreted. It can easily be misinterpreted if the context isn't understood.

ocdtrekkie 11y ago

Google has automated this process. They don't do nearly enough actual interaction with actual users about problems. This is actually an example of what I'm talking about. Where they assume an automated data collector is more valuable than even just sitting down with one person and watching them use the website.

swalsh 11y ago
Google understands users the same way an AI will understand what a sunset is, and why people like to look at them. It'll be able to tell you it's yellow orange, happens at 6:10pm eastern time, from your GPS coordnates will be appear x cm wide, has a brightness value of y, etc. It'll understand the uniqueness of the color range. But the AI won't really understand why people watch a sunset.
ryanobjc 11y ago
So look, I literally can't even right about now. The UX researchers here at Google DO in fact sit down with many people and watch them use all sorts of parts of google, gmail, etc. In fact they go out of their way to run usability studies in various parts of the countries, because, you know, selection bias. Also automated data is collected. The real problem here is, if you have X million users, can you really know them as a unified set of people? Of course not. Sure this prank backfired, but hey, have some compassion for the people who worked on it. They were trying to be funny, and trying to bring a little light to people's life. There was no intention of ruining anyone's day.
- ocdtrekkie 11y ago
  I am opted into their user studies group. I haven't seen a new invitation in a couple of years now. And the way they handle user studies, opt in via Google Form, they still see a particularly biased community: Hardcore Google users, most likely technical in nature. If Google went to a senior citizens' home, and watched how some of their less technically inclined users used their products, I'm confident Google would fire everyone with the word "designer" in their title and start over. But this is largely immaterial to this particular joke. The joke was funny. The choice to implement it for real was not.
  - ryanobjc 11y ago
    So, what you're saying is, from your limited view point, you have a conclusive overview of all of UX? Also, Google designers are intensely incompetent and deserve to be fired? I dunno, you sure are quick to judge a very difficult subject area.
    - ocdtrekkie 11y ago
      Google designers ARE intensely incompetent. And design's a pretty simple subject area. The problem is, designers need to justify their continued jobs, after a product is launched. So there's a constant set of increasingly more complicated overengineering projects to "redesign" things to stay "trendy". Generally sacrificing usability in exchange. Ever since Google hired their "VP of Design", their products have heavily shifted away from being functionally useful. There's a reason Gmail is the last bastion of competent design at Google. There's a reason that even Googlers said they wouldn't use Gmail if Inbox became the "new Gmail", and this is probably where this conversation rounds back to this prank: You don't %$@# with email.
      - jhall1468 11y ago
        What does constitute good design? Does this: http://www.ocdtrekkie.com/ http://www.ocdtrekkie.com/ Because if that is "functionally useful" then I will happily continue using trendy. The thing with design is that it is not a simple subject area. You are constantly balancing several (somtimes mutually exclusive) objectives. At the end of the day, blame end-users. They use the products that are "trendy" and look nice. They dictate good design.

Philadelphia 11y ago

Data needs to be interpreted. It can easily be misinterpreted if the context isn't understood.