The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity [Paperback]

 

 

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The book does a fair job of pointing out the problems with the complexity of modern technology, and offers some administrative solutions that have worked for the author as a consultant. But mostly the book is aimed at influencing people who manage computer program, and doesn't have much for the average reader other than commiseration.

I'd suggest Donald Norman's "the design of everyday things" as a much superior book with better solutions, aimed at a wider audience.

I found myself really getting into Cooper's book as I read it. He's an easy writer to read. He keeps things interesting with all sorts of anecdotes and experiences, and he describes them with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

That's not to say that he isn't serious about what he has to say... clearly, he is very serious. In describing the difference between a Designer and a Developer, and even in more detail when contrasting a Visual Designer and an Interaction Designer, he makes clear just how important this subject is, and how the differences he is talking about can determine the process by which a piece of software or application comes together, and the success of the final product. His obvious frustrations with the roadblocks to effective user-focused design should be understood by anyone involved in the design process.

The pinnacle of the book, for me, came in the middle. At the end of Part 3 ("Eating Soup with a Fork" -- great title), he discusses the relationship between humans and technology. He says something so simple that it should have been obvious, but it's really a fairly major shift in perception from what many people think. He talks about the assumption that technology is dehumanizing here:

"It doesn't require sophisticated tools to dehumanize your fellow humans -- a glance or a kick does it as well. It is not technology that is dehumanizing. It is the technologists, or the processes that technologists use, that create dehumanizing products."

This is important to what Cooper is trying to say in "Inmates" in so many ways. The theme of the book throughout seemed to be that interaction design is only as friendly, or as UN-friendly, as people make it. Technology only does what we tell it to, as we design and implement its specific functions.

The real revolution that this implies is the possibility that technology can be made to interact successfully with humans, and that it doesn't have to frustrate or debase the people who try to use it. In fact, as a human creation, technology is as human as we want to make it. As Cooper said in chapter 6, "For users to be happy and effective with software, it must be written in harmony with the demands of human nature."

But like anything, to make software effectively intereact with humans (i.e. more helpful, more usable, etc.) takes more work... one of the roadblocks. Cooper talks, also, about the established culture of programmers. He defines them as almost a seperate breed of humans, at least as far as their thought process and rationale... "Homo Logicus" as opposed to "Homo Sapiens." He talks about the rift that often appears between them, largely because of the cultural perception (mostly an obsolete view) that software is a solitary occupation, that programmers work in a vacuum and are the sole authors of their work.

The book makes it clear that the software design process can no longer be one which belongs to a solitary person. The creation of software works better as a collaborative effort than it does as a single-author process. Product planners, interaction designers, usability experts, testers, and yes, programmers all have their part to play, and when it comes together, it can yield great results.

Cooper's conclusion seems to be that the most fundamental changes to the software industry need to be made to the process. The people who make the software are, by and large, talented at what they do, and willing to change for the better if they can. It is when they are asked to do more than they should be that problems arise. A change to the process will ensure that better, more usable products can be made.

It seems that most of the people who do the work of making the software in question are willing to change the way they do things, but only need permission to do so. Cooper's take on it, which I agree with, is that it has become not only advisable to move on from the obsolete programming culture we have relied on in the past. If we want to make a change towards more usable products that end-users feel comfortable interacting with, then a change to the process of software creation to a more collaborative effort of interaction design and development becomes an imperative, at the very least.

Recommended to anyone involved in the software design process. Record it on tape and play it for project managers while they sleep.

It's worth reading this book -- even despite the painful tone he often takes -- just to pick up on the ideas of creating concrete personas and how you use them to develop your product. We do that today at Microsoft (at least in Developer Tools), and it's a highly successful way of not only building a good product, but also in helping hundreds of developers understand why a feature is 'in' or 'out', no matter how much they might like it personally.

It's also mentioned quickly, but the idea of how much work customers are willing to do for an amount of benefit can affect your designs for the better as well. Fundamentally, you should add value with no documentation and no setup -- if somebody paid money, they should feel rewarded as soon as they start to use your application. Then, after they want to do new things, you can require more work of them to do it. However, it should never be more work than the benefit that they derive! This is an important lesson that, say, most media player application writers would be advised to learn...

Of course, as many other reviewers have pointed out, it might have been nice if he had created some personas for who his readers were. I doubt that any of them would have had a goal of being preached to.

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1.0 out of 5 stars A very dangerous guide for any organization
I work for a large computer company that makes software. This book was instrumental in creating and organizing our human interface engineering department. Read more

Published on Feb 17 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars You're either part of the problem or part of the solution
Cooper gets it. He understands that computers and electronics are designed by engineeers, for engineers. But what if you want to design something for the masses? Read more

Published on Dec 24 2003 by Gregory Glockner

1.0 out of 5 stars You will like this book if you hate the world around you
This book actually starts out nicely up until the point where it turns into a high-pitched whine about everything that the author hates. Read more

Published on Oct 11 2003 by A Reviewer

5.0 out of 5 stars A wakeup call for the software industry
This book is written for two audiences. The frustrated computer user will enjoy the early chapters with its anecdotes about computers failing to meet human needs. Read more

Published on Sep 25 2003 by Chris Struble

4.0 out of 5 stars A philosophy, not a terse checklist for design
I kept thinking "we think alike"; not about interaction design per se - the topic of this book - but an evangelistic passion and the desire to somehow convey the deep... Read more

Published on May 29 2003 by R. Jones

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
Super book. I've been involved on the business side of web, portal and content management software projects for many years; this is the best argument on the market for bringing... Read more

Published on May 8 2003 by Alden Globe

2.0 out of 5 stars Ho hum. Should be half this thick.
I found I really had to force myself to finish reading this book. The core concepts are covered in the first half of the book, albeit in a rather drawn out fashion, and the rest... Read more

Published on April 30 2003 by Ray Hatfield

3.0 out of 5 stars The point was lost somewhere
I like Alan Cooper. He is entertaining, thoughtful and has numerous amusing anecdotes and analogies. Read more

Published on Feb 20 2003 by S. Miller

4.0 out of 5 stars The Hard Truth
This is a good book that i read last month. I wanted to write it but thanks that Alan did it. so i think this is a common problem felt by all usability engineers. Read more

Published on Feb 12 2003 by sameer chavan

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reminder of the tech tunnel vision we get...
Alan Cooper has some great points about how difficult high-tech products can be and particularly how they don't need to be that way. Read more

Published on Oct 6 2002 by Jana Eggers

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