There is a long, long, long standing problem in the computer industry: the progress bar.
They don’t work. Well, actually, sometimes they do, from some manufacturers. Others do not; they give you no real idea how long a thing will take. You may think this isn’t a problem; to a large extent you are correct, except… it indicates a deeper attitude in the industry, and that attitude is a problem.
Behind, on my other computer, a progress bar has been gradually creeping across the screen for over 24 hours now. No real indication that it’s actually doing something. I happen to know that it is, but why can’t the software give me something like a counter, estimated time remaining, time so far… anything that let’s me know visually that a process is still actually occurring, that forward progress is happening?
This is a problem in the industry. Progress bars can be fixed, with the right attention and mind frame (note: I’ve been a software engineer for over 40 years, among other things. I know these can be fixed.) What underlies this, though, is an attitude that amounts to “The Consumer Won’t Know the Difference, and Won’t Care Anyway. I’ve Got To Ship This Today, to Keep the Stock Holders Happy.”
Nonsense. This is way too similar to how Doctors are often now restricted to a single 15 minute interview per patient: one symptom at a time, please. Cr*p! You need to review all symptoms a patient is having in order to diagnose any one of them. This is an extreme disservice to the patient. Similarly, the lack of attention to the computer users’ experience with all aspects of the software is an extreme disservice to the computer user.
The Computer Industry gets away with it because their stock values keep going up. I talk to a lot of people about their computers (among other things) though, and I know the level of frustration out there. Most folks take it as “I’m just too stupid to run a computer,” which is an unfortunate attitude. I should have to how to tear down a engine just to drive to the grocery store? No…
What I’m saying here is this: the computer industry is in a rut that is getting deeper and it comes from taking feedback from stock value and stock holders and investors, rather than from the only folks who matter here: the customers.
You want to keep your stock holder happy for the long term? Then do not pay attention to them, pay attention to Serving Your Customer. Happy Customers, who feel well served by you, your software, your tech support teams (and there’s another conversation that needs to happen — where did all the real tech support go? Long time missing…), are customers who will like your product and your company. That was what made Microsoft big to begin with, but all that keeps them big now is inertia, and that’s wearing down, unless they change their attitude.
I’m not picking only on Microsoft: nearly the entire computer industry needs a serious kick in the rump right now.
A progress bar that just sits there playing an animation over and over and over and over and … is smoke and mirrors, not real communication with the user. Stop talking to computer users as if they are all 7 years old. Admittedly, some of them are; most are not. Or better yet, allow the user to dial the personality, age level and sophistication of the experience he wishes to have with the what-ever-it-is now. Error messages that actually describe what happened, not “code numbers” too long even to type into a browser on another computer are not helpful.
Yeah, I’d like my computer to tell me what’s actually going on, not just sit there like a boat anchor for over 24 hours. Silly me… But this is why there are very few companies left in the industry that I respect any more, and, as I said, I am one person who should know. My “difficulty” though is that I’m a perfectionist at heart, though I tend to agree with Vince Lombardi who said “Perfection may be impossible but aiming for it allows us achieve greatness” (approximately; I’m writing that from memory). I know the computer industry can do better. Why then are there unaddressed bugs in Microsoft Office (for example) that have been for over 20 years without getting fixed? Don’t they love their software or their customers?
A life time’s experience not withstanding — this is all just my opinion!