On the role of usability as the most important issue when designing online, Todd Wilkens of Adaptive Path saidbest:
Praising usability is like giving me a gold star for remembering that I have to put each leg in a different place in my pants to put them on. (Admittedly, I do give my 2 year old daughter a gold star for this but then she’s 2.) Usability is not a strategy for design success. … Usability is too low level, too focused on minutia. It can’t compel people to be interested in interacting with your product or service. It can’t make you compelling or really differentiate you from other organizations.
I wholeheartedly agree. I aspire to create interfaces experiences that are engaging, lively, and inspired. I do not always nail it, but I do believe I am getting closer, and much more consistent. At a minimum, they are personable, quirky, and unique; I can live with that in the interim.
Speaking of which, I have a really good one to share with you all in the next few days.
And, fwiw, I respect and truly admire the way Adaptive Path approaches their work. In my mind, AP and Cooper are the quintessential San Francisco design firms, and the only two places I would even consider should I ever tire of doing startups. =)
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