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At some point I need to write an article about this topic. I disagree with a lot of the conclusions about that article. You aren't making a lathe for someone w

by IAmPym 2y ago

At some point I need to write an article about this topic. I disagree with a lot of the conclusions about that article. You aren't making a lathe for someone with no experience. Anyone who is a potential customer for a lathe has SOME experience, even if it's just enough to say "I want a lathe" and the amount of effort they will need to go through to onboard to using the lathe properly is directly proportional to the applicable mental models they have for similar tasks. This probably involves hand eye coordination and gestures along with physics and a bunch of other things to onboard quickly. Intuition is about using the most fundamental mental models that your customer(s) should have and simplifying the connection of those to the new task. So intuition is contextual. The main goal is to save the user time. The narrow goal is to make the product easier to learn compared to your competitors. The big problem is no matter WHAT you do, the mental model a user will use when they approach a new task for the first time is inevitably different than the one you did. Or, "You are not your customer" or however you want to phrase it.

arp242 2y ago
A lot of software doesn't really follow the business/consumer model though, and is either outright public infrastructure or de-facto public infrastructure. Something like train ticket machines are a good example – I don't know what the current situation is because I haven't been there in years, but for a long time the train ticket machines on the Dutch/German border were a completely unusable mess of confusion. How can you mess something like this up so badly? I don't know, but they did. And then there are things like tax services, e-identity services, and all of that, much of which is far more complex, and easier to screw up. De-facto public infrastructure are things like banking, energy companies, stuff like that. "Public infrastructure" is perhaps not entirely the right term for this, but it is something more or less anyone is expected to be able to use, and where competition is often limited (or sometimes even non-existent). Remember the UK Post Office scandal? While I strongly feel the main cause was not the software[1], one reason the cunts in charge manage to gaslight people for so long was because the software is so complex, difficult, and does suck. [1]: Previous: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39013418 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39013418
Animats 2y ago
Some tools are very standardized. Basic modern lathes are all very similar to Maudsley's original precision lathe, which is in the Science Museum in London and worth a look. Someone who knew how to use Maudsley's original lathe would be able to use a modern non-CNC lathe with about five minutes of checking it out. But faced with a basic modern 3-axis CNC mill, they'd be totally lost.
fuzzy2 2y ago
Haha, oh yes. Ever had a project where, at some point, the (key) users said “but Excel”? Well, you better listen to them. Sure it may be great for the layperson to edit a building’s layout visually. But know what? The expect just wants to enter the coordinates. In a grid, using only the keyboard. I’ve had so many projects where we took users for fools. Boy did they fail.
CoastalCoder 2y ago
> You aren't making a lathe for someone with no experience. Probably the #1 image I wish I could purge from my mind is that of a lathe accident. I saw the picture maybe 15 years ago, and I still remember it in horrifying detail. Some tools really shouldn't be used until a person has had thorough safety training. The two that immediately come to mind are lathes and table saws.
- petsfed 2y ago
  I said it elsewhere, but one of the first things I learned about power tools, from my father, is that if you don't know how to use a tool or tool setting, you don't use it. Granted, power drills are moderately benign as these things go, but you can do a lot of damage to a work piece really fast if you select a tool or setting you're unfamiliar with. Which is why there manuals, books, videos, and classes to teach you. Blogging about discoverability in the context of power tool interfaces is just peak software engineer naval gazing.
  - _heimdall 2y ago
    Power drills are pretty benign to the operator as long as they know not to try to use the drill bit as a router or sander. I've seen plenty of people try to knock off an edge with the side of a bit. Sure it can be done, but its also a great way to have it jump and catch the side of your hand.
    - nick7376182 2y ago
      You can also easily break your wrist with some of the stronger ones that are available. I've also had one wind-up part of my work glove on accident. And the big plug-in drills are just terrifying in general, with how much rotational inertia they have. I won't touch those.
      - formerly_proven 2y ago
        Anti-kickback is a great feature on hammer drills, angle grinders etc.
hulitu 2y ago
> You aren't making a lathe for someone with no experience. No, today it is a lathe, tomorrow is capucino, the day after tomorrow is shit. See the evolution of GUI in Windows and Android.

by IAmPym 2y ago

arp242 2y ago

A lot of software doesn't really follow the business/consumer model though, and is either outright public infrastructure or de-facto public infrastructure. Something like train ticket machines are a good example – I don't know what the current situation is because I haven't been there in years, but for a long time the train ticket machines on the Dutch/German border were a completely unusable mess of confusion. How can you mess something like this up so badly? I don't know, but they did. And then there are things like tax services, e-identity services, and all of that, much of which is far more complex, and easier to screw up. De-facto public infrastructure are things like banking, energy companies, stuff like that. "Public infrastructure" is perhaps not entirely the right term for this, but it is something more or less anyone is expected to be able to use, and where competition is often limited (or sometimes even non-existent). Remember the UK Post Office scandal? While I strongly feel the main cause was not the software[1], one reason the cunts in charge manage to gaslight people for so long was because the software is so complex, difficult, and does suck. [1]: Previous: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39013418 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39013418

Animats 2y ago

Some tools are very standardized. Basic modern lathes are all very similar to Maudsley's original precision lathe, which is in the Science Museum in London and worth a look. Someone who knew how to use Maudsley's original lathe would be able to use a modern non-CNC lathe with about five minutes of checking it out. But faced with a basic modern 3-axis CNC mill, they'd be totally lost.

fuzzy2 2y ago

Haha, oh yes. Ever had a project where, at some point, the (key) users said “but Excel”? Well, you better listen to them. Sure it may be great for the layperson to edit a building’s layout visually. But know what? The expect just wants to enter the coordinates. In a grid, using only the keyboard. I’ve had so many projects where we took users for fools. Boy did they fail.

CoastalCoder 2y ago

> You aren't making a lathe for someone with no experience. Probably the #1 image I wish I could purge from my mind is that of a lathe accident. I saw the picture maybe 15 years ago, and I still remember it in horrifying detail. Some tools really shouldn't be used until a person has had thorough safety training. The two that immediately come to mind are lathes and table saws.

petsfed 2y ago
I said it elsewhere, but one of the first things I learned about power tools, from my father, is that if you don't know how to use a tool or tool setting, you don't use it. Granted, power drills are moderately benign as these things go, but you can do a lot of damage to a work piece really fast if you select a tool or setting you're unfamiliar with. Which is why there manuals, books, videos, and classes to teach you. Blogging about discoverability in the context of power tool interfaces is just peak software engineer naval gazing.
- _heimdall 2y ago
  Power drills are pretty benign to the operator as long as they know not to try to use the drill bit as a router or sander. I've seen plenty of people try to knock off an edge with the side of a bit. Sure it can be done, but its also a great way to have it jump and catch the side of your hand.
  - nick7376182 2y ago
    You can also easily break your wrist with some of the stronger ones that are available. I've also had one wind-up part of my work glove on accident. And the big plug-in drills are just terrifying in general, with how much rotational inertia they have. I won't touch those.
    - formerly_proven 2y ago
      Anti-kickback is a great feature on hammer drills, angle grinders etc.

hulitu 2y ago

> You aren't making a lathe for someone with no experience. No, today it is a lathe, tomorrow is capucino, the day after tomorrow is shit. See the evolution of GUI in Windows and Android.