Systems Design. It's all about people.

It's all about people! Sure, the software/system should be easy to use causing the least amount of frustration as possible, but it should go far beyond that. People, perhaps stress-out individuals, may be sitting in front of software you create for 8 or more hours a day. It is possible they may not want to be there.

One of the tips for the day in Microsoft Word is "Don't run with scissors". In my software I put in required statements like "Backup your data daily" but also "The weakest ink is stronger than the strongest memory" and "If at first you don't succeed, try to hide your astonishment" and of course my favorite "Everyday do one thing that makes a permanent improvement." Unfortunately I didn't have room for Groucho Marx's "Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog its too dark to read." . If you can make the experience enjoyable, perhaps bringing a smile to someone's face, you have changed the world.

Every aspect of a system affects people. In a software system the cast of characters will usually include the following · End user · Trainer · Installer · Technical Writer · Technical Support · Sales · Maintenance Programmer

All of these people are affected by the design of a software system and all should have input to the design process. There will be tradeoffs, for example making things easier for the trainer might be accomplished by making things more difficult for the installer. Spend some time thinking of the perfect world. This world does not have hardware limitations and has unlimited staff resources. This allows you to clarify your goals. When you come back to the real world, you will know where you want to go. Never lose sight of the big picture. The perfect world applies only to you, everyone else lives in the worst possible world. Picture the trainer being asked unrelated questions by all the users at the same time or the installer with 10 other sites to get to in the next hour and his pager is beeping.

A newlywed was watching his wife prepare a ham. Before she put it in the pan, she cut off both ends. When asked why she did it she said that her mother had always prepared the ham that way. So they called the mother who said that she learned it from her mother. The newlyweds then called the nursing home to talk to the grandmother. She said that she cut off the ends of the ham because the pan was too small. The appropriate system may change over time. I kept track of when sections of my software changed. I reviewed the parts that had not changed in several years to see if they were still suitable.

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