Re: engineers design products ultimately useful only to other engineers

[Trevor Perry <trevor@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Eric,

I think you have found the answer!!

But who at IBM could "revamp the System i product line to include colors
like pink, baby blue and light green and begin distributing them through
grocery store chains"?

Trevor



On 1/2/08 11:53 AM, "Eric Lehti" <elehti@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> The comments from Steve Richter and Trevor Perry regarding "outstanding
> tools" for end users, designed by Microsoft programmers, are in line
> with the thoughts published December 30, 2007 in this New York Times
> news article.  All of us technical programmers face challenges in
> developing application systems that users are happy with.
>
> Be sure to read this.  Here  is a snippet from the article.
>   http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/business/30know.html
>
>
> December 30, 2007
> Bright Ideas
> Article title:  Innovative Minds Don't Think Alike
> By JANET RAE-DUPREE
>
> <snip>
> That's a common reaction when experts set out to share their ideas in
> the business world, too, says Chip Heath, who with his brother, Dan, was
> a co-author of the 2007 book "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and
> Others Die." It's why engineers design products ultimately useful only
> to other engineers. It's why managers have trouble convincing the rank
> and file to adopt new processes. And it's why the advertising world
> struggles to convey commercial messages to consumers.
> "I HAVE a DVD remote control with 52 buttons on it, and every one of
> them is there because some engineer along the line knew how to use that
> button and believed I would want to use it, too," Mr. Heath says.
> "People who design products are experts cursed by their knowledge, and
> they can't imagine what it's like to be as ignorant as the rest of us."
> </snip)