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Old 03-25-2006, 05:15 PM
srdiamond srdiamond is online now
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Join Date: 11-23-2004
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 126
Quote:
Originally posted by alx
[B]I think we need to distinguish between features in terms of abilities and features in terms of items on a menu list; the former are the ones we, the users, keep and will keep asking for; the latter are what we usually get, but not necessarily the best solution.
Some features, so-called, decrease the complexity of the interface without decreasing what the program can do, and I think these aspects of the program have to be separated from the program's power. Usually--but far from always--when people talk about features, they mean power features, features proper. I would reserve some other term for complexity-decreasing innovations, terms like ease of use or user friendliness--or most encompassing, 'elegance.'

I think the originating post had power features in mind, and I think the premise is true, that at a given level of interface refinement, increasing power comes at the expense of interface complexity. So there's a question of balance between the evolution of the interface and the growth of power. The thread originator seems to be saying increases in power typically overshoot advances in interface elegance. As to UR, does it show imbalance? Personally, I think UR's current interface could absorb substantially more power, and I think there's some temptation to succumb to persistent demands for usability aspects, sacrificing advance in power. But this is mostly just one user's preference.

The idea that software developers augment features and sacrifice elegance--despite what their market wants--is one possible explanation for the tendency for programs to show "feature bloat," but I think it's the wrong explanation. Based mostly on personal observation, I think feature bloat results from the oversensitivity of developers to the demands of specific vocal users and many developers' lack of an independent vision for the product to counter-act this over-responsiveness. Depending on the specific user community, such pressures can alternatively over-develop usability at expense of power--the Macintosh syndrome.

Last edited by srdiamond; 03-25-2006 at 05:17 PM.
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