Fog Creek Software
g
Discussion Board




Users revolt against bad design

I think we've all sat in design meetings for hours and hours discussing things that seem incredibly stupid and unworthy of discussion. Yet somehow, eventually "they" wear us down and we end up agreeing to implement feature X how "they" insist, against our better judgement.

It would appear that the "Nokia N-Gage" phone-cum-gaming-console is a poster child for this process gone amuck. Observe how real-life users feel about the design: http://www.sidetalkin.com/

Peter
Friday, November 21, 2003

i dont know what your point is, but that is a rad fucking website.

sven
Friday, November 21, 2003

um... I don't understand that site at all... wait... no... not at all...

Jack of all
Friday, November 21, 2003

Yet another idiotic web site by people with nothing better to do.

You think Nokia will notice?

Rather than taking photos of themselves, those people should have called Nokia and expressed their feelings about "sidetalking".

:-(

Maximus
Friday, November 21, 2003

Website asside, if anything, design has become more of a sales point. Nokia this last eighteen months has been trying some risky designs in hopes that they will catch on. Another one is their 3650 in which many people did not like the numeric keypad layout.

m
Friday, November 21, 2003

The designers at Nokia don't get that what people really want is a slightly improved 3330. They should stop messing about.

Dominic Fitzpatrick
Friday, November 21, 2003

I agree with Dominic. I've still got a 3310, bought a few months ago when the last one didn't survie a shower with my clothes on and the phone in the jeans pocket.

What I really want is simply for them to give it PDA abilities and let me synch it by USB to my Outlook address book.

Stephen Jones
Friday, November 21, 2003

Maybe, that original poster is one of the guys having his photo on that site. Spammers galore!!!

The One You Loved (TOYL)
Friday, November 21, 2003

Here's a much better idea for a phone - useful too...

http://graphics.theonion.com/pics_3903/new_swiss_army_phone.jpg

Interaction Architect
Friday, November 21, 2003

How are they rebelling? It seems like a good percentage of the morons on the site actually own an N-Rage. And it's likely that they were aware of how it's used before they bought it.

Why do you consider it to be bad design, anyway?

a2800276
Friday, November 21, 2003

Art has to move you and design does not, unless it's a good DESIGN for a bus.
-- David Hockney 

Tapiwa
Friday, November 21, 2003

The phone has long been designed to rest easily in the hand while holding it to the ear.

With th N-Gage design, you have to expend extra effort to keep the phone aligned with your ear.  This is bad.

What would be best is a Star Trek TNG badge.  It has  perfectly working voice dialing.  There is no headset to deal with.  Completely hands free and no wires.

We're not there yet.

Richard Ponton
Friday, November 21, 2003

I think the 6x10 series is the sweet spot.

Have had the 6110 and am now on the 6310.

Big enough for me to use, and still small enough to not be a pain to carry.

Tapiwa
Friday, November 21, 2003

Taking a shower with your clothes on and a phone in your pocket?!?

pdq
Friday, November 21, 2003

I agree with PDQ, my phone never gives me problems after I do that.

Zahid
Friday, November 21, 2003

*  Recent Topics

*  Fog Creek Home