3 ms·

Newsflash: Geeks now good at usability, everyone else crap

48 points by frabcus 15y ago

JonnieCache 15y ago
Partly I think it is in cliques wanting to keep people out as they don’t have room in their venues. At least, that is how I feel as an outsider. Just like normal people felt about computers in the 1990s. I can confirm that this is often the case :) If there are more people in the area that enjoy the artist and are likely to come to the event than you have space in the venue, why would you want much else on the poster? Also, event posters are most often glimpsed from several metres away, in the dark, while drunk, so it's important that the key information is very visible. But you're right, that poster sucks. What do you think of this? http://erisian.tk/wp-content/gallery/flyers/20090515-erisian-flyer_bk-760w.png http://erisian.tk/wp-content/gallery/flyers/20090515-erisian... (They were 15cm wide by about 10cm high) Done by a friend of mine for his night Erisian, he's likely reading this. Hi. Notice the name isn't actually on the flyer anywhere, by this point in the event's history it was known throughout the town simply by the striking typography and the eight pointed star logo. So there's the elitist cool, but also I think it tells you a lot more about what to expect than that other flyer.
- v21 15y ago
  Yeah, the process for band posters is : recognise a band (or in this case, maybe a genre). If so, then check the details. That's all the poster needs to convey, and the most important way for it to do it is by being cool and by appealing to fans of that band/genre/club night/promoter/whatever.
- jacobolus 15y ago
  The all caps everywhere in your linked poster makes the text really hard to read, but otherwise the layout seems clear enough.
andrewflnr 15y ago
There are a lot of unsubstantiated generalizations in this piece. So because capitalism has done its work on Internet startups, forcing them to make clear value statements, this means all geeks are good at usability. And because music posters, real estate, and government forms suck in the UK, "everyone else [is] crap"?
mkramlich 15y ago
The flip side to all the clear examples of poor user experience out there (government, banks, universities, BigDumbCompanies, hidebound industries, etc.) is that there seems to be plenty of opportunities available for the smart entrepreneur to develop a friendlier alternative and make a profit. Just takes time and execution.

48 points by frabcus 15y ago

Partly I think it is in cliques wanting to keep people out as they don’t have room in their venues. At least, that is how I feel as an outsider. Just like normal people felt about computers in the 1990s. I can confirm that this is often the case :) If there are more people in the area that enjoy the artist and are likely to come to the event than you have space in the venue, why would you want much else on the poster? Also, event posters are most often glimpsed from several metres away, in the dark, while drunk, so it's important that the key information is very visible. But you're right, that poster sucks. What do you think of this? http://erisian.tk/wp-content/gallery/flyers/20090515-erisian-flyer_bk-760w.png http://erisian.tk/wp-content/gallery/flyers/20090515-erisian... (They were 15cm wide by about 10cm high) Done by a friend of mine for his night Erisian, he's likely reading this. Hi. Notice the name isn't actually on the flyer anywhere, by this point in the event's history it was known throughout the town simply by the striking typography and the eight pointed star logo. So there's the elitist cool, but also I think it tells you a lot more about what to expect than that other flyer.

v21 15y ago
Yeah, the process for band posters is : recognise a band (or in this case, maybe a genre). If so, then check the details. That's all the poster needs to convey, and the most important way for it to do it is by being cool and by appealing to fans of that band/genre/club night/promoter/whatever.
jacobolus 15y ago
The all caps everywhere in your linked poster makes the text really hard to read, but otherwise the layout seems clear enough.

andrewflnr 15y ago

There are a lot of unsubstantiated generalizations in this piece. So because capitalism has done its work on Internet startups, forcing them to make clear value statements, this means all geeks are good at usability. And because music posters, real estate, and government forms suck in the UK, "everyone else [is] crap"?

mkramlich 15y ago

The flip side to all the clear examples of poor user experience out there (government, banks, universities, BigDumbCompanies, hidebound industries, etc.) is that there seems to be plenty of opportunities available for the smart entrepreneur to develop a friendlier alternative and make a profit. Just takes time and execution.