Joel Spolsky is revving "UI for Programmers" - something I've been meaning to read. Based on this preview, I think I'm going to wait for v2.0 to hit the shelves...seems like he's looking to release a substantial upgrade.
…does the UI respond to the user in the way in which the user expected it to respond? If it didn’t, the user is going to feel like they can't control the interface, and they're going to be unsuccessful. That's all there is to it. Something is usable if it behaves exactly as expected.If you've got a copy of v1.0 that I could borrow in the meantime, or a pointer to an eBook version of the online draft, I'd be eternally grateful.
Which is easier to use, Photoshop or Visual Studio? Eclipse or Word? If the users and their expectations are different, or -- as happens in so many cases -- there are no expectations, Joel's formulation degenerates into tautological nonsense. For a more complete disection of where Joel goes wrong, read here.