Today GFP (Grumpy Former Publisher)[0] decided they wanted their PS2 dev kit back[1]. So, I had to swap devkits. How long did this take? Well, not counting the time to trundle the new devkit up to my desk.
1 minute to shut down the old dev kit
30 seconds to unplug old A/V cables, controller, USB keyboard
30 seconds to replug the cables into the new dev kit
1 minute to boot up the new devkit and get the IP address (yes, this one still displays the IP address)
1 minute to flash using the v2.7.1 .bin file
1 minute to completely shut down
1 minute to come up from a cold start
6 minutes elapsed time.
This is the way products are supposed to work. You plug it in, and it works. This should be a rule of thumb in all fields of design. Your product should be installed with the least possible number of steps possible, and it should be by default set up in a working configuration. Then you expose all the configuration options for the advanced users. There are exceptions, but most of them involve phrases like "We're sending an installation team to set up the product and show you how to run it".
People are ignorant by default. Don't expect them to know what they're doing. The more steps they have to go through the more likely they are to screw it up. This counts double for people who do know what they're doing. Do you remember every setting you changed when you were trying to get that print driver to work at 4:30am? Didn't think so.
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[0] No, I'm not saying who.
[1] There was a SNAFU where GFP forgot to cancel our order of devkits when they acquired their Former-ness, we were supposed to have straightened things out and bought the devkits but apparently (either through their being grumpy or someone being incompetent, no way of telling which) the devkit was not purchased and needed to be sent back. I'd say something pithy about how the games industry is like this, but really, every single industry is like this.
Posted by matt at August 6, 2003 01:00 AM