The Inmates Are Running the Asylum : Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How To Restore The Sanity |
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| Alan Cooper (Preface), Paul Saffo |
| April 1999, Sams, Hardcover, 261 pages, ISBN 0672316498
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| The Inmates are Running the Asylum argues that, despite appearances,
business executives are simply not the ones in control of the high-tech
industry. They have inadvertently put programmers and engineers in
charge, leading to products and processes that waste huge amounts
of money, squander customer loyalty, and erode competitive advantage.
Cooper offers a provocative, insightful and entertaining explanation
of how talented people continuously design bad software-based products.
More importantly, he uses his own work with companies big and small
to show how to harness those talents to create products that will
both thrill their users and grow the bottom line. |
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Review-Date: 2/17/2011 Rating: 5 Summary: Every programmer/software engineer should read this book
Given that software is becoming overwhelmingly important part of every one‘s day to day lives it is so important to start thinking about designing it from the consumer‘s perspective. And the consumers that need be targeted are those typically referred to as ‘computer illiterate‘. Thanks to Alan Cooper for pointing out this new apartheid. People don‘t need to learn computers but rather software needs to be designed for people. I know people who love using the Internet for communication and entertainment however do not understand the concept of a ‘browser‘ and a ‘web address‘. They think that it is necessary to use Mozilla–FireFox to go to Yahoo and that it is necessary to use Microsoft–Internet–explorer to go to GMail and yet another browser to read the newspaper. The iPhone unknowingly solved this problem with its Apps which are distinctly different – an app for yahoo, an app for email, an app for the NYT, an app for weather, an app for Google search! The user of an iPhone does not need to understand the concept of a browser and URL. I believe it happened unknowingly because otherwise we would have had similar apps for desktops long time ago. We still don‘t have them as of today.
Review-Date: 12/10/2010 Rating: 5 Summary: Wow, I finally feel understood!
Although this book is more than ten years old, it‘s a satisfying read. I have both a BSEE and MSEE in computer and electrical engineering, and I was a software developer for years. I HATE most of today‘s gadgets and software because I need to ("go back to school and") learn how to use it (i.e. understand what the software programmer was thinking.) It was a sort of "relief" to read this book and know that I am not alone. It was a fun read. Have you ever wondered why for years we always laughed about why nobody could program their VCR and that it "takes a kid" to use your phone, DVR, etc? It‘s 2010 and my cable TV‘s "state of the art" Digital Video Recorder and Receiver makes me INSANE to use. Only a kid would "sit through" all of these "video game like challenges" to figure out how to "sort of" make it work. We "humans" simply want a "gas pedal and brake" and "ease of operation." We don‘t care about "what‘s under the hood" and do not want to understand how it works (even if we are capable.) I read this book a year ago, and what brings me here today is that I was forced to read the manual on how to use a particular streaming software for the internet. The programmers and technical writers ‘think‘ that I am an idiot. The truth is, I simply do not understand what they are trying to tell me in order to use their product. Big difference. I‘m going to recommend that they read this book. Of course, I assume that once they see the subtitle, they will stomp away and safely believe that I am the dufus. Too bad. All us idiots and geniuses alike love Apple products. Why is that?
Review-Date: 11/12/2010 Rating: 1 Summary: A reminder not to cut corners when it comes to product usability. Everything else should be thrown away
The book is a reminder about not cutting corners when it comes to software usability and quality user experience. That‘s an important point to remember and understand. The key point is that it‘s something that needs to be understood by the company executives, so they can facilitate the creation of software that‘s intuitive and easy to use. The rest of the book content is extremely dangerous because it doesn‘t represent the reality and the best software development practices (advocating fewer product releases is one example; it‘s no longer expensive to release software; the author also doesn‘t understand how it‘s possible to have quality software while still being able to release often). The idea that the only thing where you have a design is the UI and the application interactity/workflow is a dead giveaway about the author‘s limited understanding of the development process. You can‘t just "design" the UI and then simply code the rest. These days what people interact with is just a tip of an iceberg. The rest of this "iceberg" needs to have a good architecture and detailed design. The book is a bit dated, which definitely shows. It also shows that it was written by somebody, who‘s even more dated in terms of their understanding of the development process and how the companies work. There are different kinds of features, but the author only talks about the "functional" feature types. Usability, user experience, intuitive workflow, and overall UI are also features... features that some companies neglect while others don‘t.
Review-Date: 9/24/2010 Rating: 2 Summary: Needlessly Arrogant
Software interaction design is one of my strong interests, so I took up this book with excitement to learn more of this important topic. As a software engineer and manager in the field for well over 20 years, I was shocked to learn that I am part of the problem. Turns out I‘m in good company because all of Microsoft and every other engineering type is with me.
To give him credit (why I‘m giving 2 stars instead of only 1), he does offer some interesting perspectives (software should be polite...) but you need to wade through vast piles of needless chest pounding and fault finding to get to the tidbits of curiosity.
I hate to write in my books, but I found I had to get out a pencil and start writing in the margins, notes to the author of how he is wrong in many of his analyses of situations, categorically condemns hugely useful and popular programs (email for example) because he thinks he found a feature everyone forgot.
I usually hate throwing away books until they are 20 years old. This is the first book I may actually throw away before it is a month old. I would never loan it to a friend or an enemy.
Don‘t buy it!
Review-Date: 4/22/2010 Rating: 5 Summary: Computer Programming Thought Out
The author, Alan Cooper, breaks apart the design cycle of creating software by separating the designer from coder. From experience and logic, he steps you around the traps while providing an easily followed track for producing a computer program.
Think of this book (almost) as an introduction to his other book, "About Face", a text book which every programmer/analyst/designer should read.
Review-Date: 3/24/2010 Rating: 1 Summary: Needs updating
Written in 1999, I think this book is an example of how software used to be written. While Cooper‘s attitude in the book is annoying and frustrating, I found his views about software and it‘s process narrow minded. In the 1999s, when a software package was rather small, spending tons of time doing software documentation made sense. Nowadays, Cooper‘s methods no longer apply. If you want a book to use as a reference of how not to do current day software, buy this book, read it, and do everything opposite of what Cooper suggests.
Review-Date: 8/24/2009 Rating: 4 Summary: Good case for interaction design, great for newbies
Why high–tech products drive us crazy and how to restore the sanity
by Alan Cooper, SAMS, 1999
Cooper wanted to provide with this book a business case for improved UI design. He wanted to make a case that there was a strong need for improved interaction design. The case no doubt stands as strong today as 10 years ago. While one sees progress at leading companies in terms of usability, the sheer abundance and explosion of human/computer interaction has no doubt caused the friction and frustration with poorly designed interfaces to increase rather than decrease.
Cooper has also written "how–to" books on interaction design: "About Face" in which he describes the techniques to come to good "interaction" design. If you‘re looking for techniques, it is no doubt more worthwhile to investigate "About Face".
In the "Inmates", Cooper raises several very worthwhile insights and approaches. Professionals in the industry will definitely connect with the messages and follow Cooper‘s reasoning. Design will reduce the number of iterations needed to come to a good product, and will reduce your overall time and cost needed. We know this, but do not necessarily do this in all projects. Which is why Cooper advocates the strong integration of design in your culture and processes. And why he wrote the book in the first place.
Yet, at the same time, Cooper‘s tone and stance towards engineers and programmers could easily be seen as alienating and by some even as arrogant. Which, in the end, somewhat diminishes the goal of the book. The goal after all is to influence the professional software community, existing mostly out of engineers and programmers. In my summary, I left out most of these comments when Cooper gets somewhat carried away about how software engineers are wired differently (‘homo logicus‘).
In the end, it is a light and easy–to–read, often amusing book which is making a good case for the strongly–needed discipline of design. If you‘re not familiar with the topic, it is no doubt worth your time.
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Review-Date: 8/23/2009 Rating: 5 Summary: A must read for anyone who has their hands in the software development process
This book was really eye opening to me. Showing how different software engineering is from traditional (civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) in the sense that you are creating an ever evolving product. Though it also shows how we need to be treating it more like traditional engineering by going into the development process with more of a blueprint how how it should interact with the user. Imagine trying to build a house without blueprints! This is how I and most (if not all) other programmers that I know develop.
This book is not just for the developers out there, in fact it‘s only marginally for them. This book is aimed at managers of the software development process. Basically managers need to understand that more (some?) time needs to be placed on how the program will interact with *users* before it is sent to the developers.
Though with that said all people involved in the process of software development need to be aware of this shortcoming that is so often found in the development process.
Review-Date: 2/8/2009 Rating: 3 Summary: for fun but not educational.
You have to remember this book is written ~a decade ago. Some information is a bit old. It is ok to read.
However, as a engineering student, I feel that he shouldn‘t place all the fault on the engineers. My impression of the book is that all the hassles and faults with computer lies with software engineers and managers, none on the users because you shouldn‘t have to learn it, ppl should know how to use it immediately.
Read it for fun, there are some informative part, but take them with a grain of salt.
Review-Date: 1/22/2009 Rating: 5 Summary: Great book – Makes a passionate case to move from developer cetric to customer centric
Great book – Makes a passionate case to move from developer cetric to customer centric. This the book that introduced the incredibly useful notion on Personas to the hitech world.
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