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On Friday, February 21, 2014, Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> wrote:
> ... after a period of "flavor of the month, change for change's sake"
> "innovations," designers were finally settling in on a set of UI building
> blocks based on how people actually used UIs rather than on what was the
> "latest, greatest and up-to-datest."
>
I spoke to some colleagues earlier about how, since I jumped the PC shark
and switched to a MacBook for home and contract use, I have a closer
relationship with the developers of the tools I use. I am always sending
them feedback, and experience an almost peer-level dialogue with these very
user-focused developers. Some even offer me beta software to try, and free
licenses to upgrade to the latest versions.
By this don't mean the practical aspects, which are equivalent to a
typical support agreement. I'm speaking more about an attitude shift that
today's developers are giving their users the impression that the user
matters. Developers are more transparent in their concern for what we
think. I'm also seeing this in the author community, where before I
wouldn't think to interact with an author I admire, but now I almost expect
to send a review or a comment to the author and receive a "hey" back.
While I have seen more occurrences of speaking with
developers/creators since I switched to Mac, (and since I transitioned into
TechCom and development), I doubt that the phenomenon was caused by the OS.
I believe today's consumers expect this level of relationship from their
providers, and for the most part the providers encourage this relationship,
which is why they implement tools to facilitate it.
Am I seeing a real trend? Has this trend always been around? Or have I been
merely looking for additional outlets for my extraverted personality?
-Tony
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