I collect nuggets of wisdom on various topics. Recently I have been going over the topic of Agile software development; what really matters? Below is a list of 26 key principles to guide an agile software development team.
The more I use windows UI, the more I believe that the concept of the “moded pop up dialog box” is not useful and unnecessary.
The “moded pop up dialog box” is a user interface technique that allows you to have a screen on display, and allow a user action to cause a new window to appear on top of it. The new window takes control. Continue reading
I have been arguing for years that disabled (greyed-out) menu items and buttons are in general a bad idea because it is impossible for users to know why the associated function is not enabled at the. It is quite frustrating: the user sees a menu command that looks like it might be what is needed, but it is disabled, and there is not at all obvious why it is disabled. Continue reading
Have you ever been using a high tech product or software application, and ran across a command or prompt which you did not know, went to the help, and found a help entry, but that entry actually tells you nothing? For example, you see a menu called “XXX” and you wonder what it does, so you go to the help or the manual, and look it up. The entry says (and I quote) “In order to XXX select the XXX Menu.” This is Content Free Documentation. Continue reading
What are I going to gripe about today? How about: “programmers who think they are going to make other peoples lives easier by letting them program in a new language that is less complex.”
OK, the motives are good: “Programming is complex. Many people are intimidated. Let’s make something that they will be less afraid of, and still accomplish the job.” Continue reading
Thinking Matters 