Re: Rant... please let me help you fix the user interface

[John Posada <jposada01 -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> John Posada makes a good point about updating the user interface
> of a clunky old product:
> 
> > Are you also going to take on the whole regression 
> > testing effort and budget? 
> 
> (With my user-advocate hat on, I don't like that answer either. But
> the business of business is business.)

Thanks, Steve.

The point I was trying to make is that there are issues to changing a
GUI. You don't just shuffle things around and change text here and
there. Any change you make has to be tested and regression tested.

It may be that the application is reaching the end of its lifecycle
and the less money put in, the better for the company...and for you.
It may be that what you see as a gui change has ramifications you
aren't aware of. Not everything is code-only.

So...when they say no, they are saying no to the sum of the impacts
vs the perceived benefit. At a previous company, the written
justification and specification for adding a couple of buttons and a
field to a GUI was about 35 pages of documentation.

Understanding, recognizing, and justifying based on all the factors
will help you be taken more seriously by your management, over
standing in the middle of the floor saying "The GUI sucks and I
should change it!"

John Posada
Senior Technical Writer

"They say everyone needs goals. Mine is to live forever.
So far, so good."
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