You’re asking for the wrong thing.

Avi Pilosof — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:50:22 GMT

Just stumbled upon this article by John Dvorak titled “My Windows 7 Wish List”, and I see the same pattern as many of the other fruitless wish list articles. Maybe IHBT…

As a user, the user experience (UX) is the only thing that ever matters to you – the implementation is never the issue.

Take for example item (1) on the list:

“Build a new file system based on database technologies”. Why do you care about how the file system works internally? Do you actually want a file system with a DB in the backend, or do you just want to be able to run fast, useful searches? My guess is that it’s the latter.

Another one:

“Get rid of the miserable registry”. Is it the registry you care about, or the fact that it’s difficult to upgrade/migrate?

Another:

“Get off the cloud”. You’re worried that “suddenly the machine wants to contact the Internet for some reason or other”. This has nothing to do with the “cloud strategy”; you just want a machine that doesn’t use the network. Or something. I don’t really know based on that rant :)

Alternatively just read this:

http://shippingseven.blogspot.com/2008/07/20-features-windows-7-should-include.html

Basically (and I’m talking about customers in general – not just MS/Windows) people often request implementation changes, but what they really want are UX changes. Do you want a powerful engine, or just a fast car? Do you want high carbon steel, or just a knife that’s very sharp and stays that way? Do you really care how the sausage is made? ;)

As a customer, it’s important to understand what you actually want since it makes it much easier to ask for it (and hence get it).

Avi

Yet Another Coding Blog : software

You’re asking for the wrong thing.