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Sarah,
It might be most effective to show her examples of what you consider to be
particularly effective interfaces in other programs. This approach
mitigates the perception of criticism coming from you and addresses the
language concern. Also, if you provide examples from different programs,
such as a properties sheet in one application, error messages in another,
dialog boxes from a third, you can emphasize that no program (including
your previous version) is perfect.
Also you can point to books about effective interfaces.
Good luck!
Walter
At 10:53 AM 4/30/99 -0700, Sarah Stegall wrote:
>My question: What's an effective way to approach
>a touchy, rather defensive SME to offer help in
>designing a GUI? Nothing that smacks of implied
>criticism will work; she's very thin-skinned.
>Also, her command of English is less than
>perfect. Any suggestions would be very much
>appreciated. Thanks.
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Walter Hanig whanig -at- qualcomm -dot- com
x16651 619.651.6651 (voice) AE-220C
494-5396 (pager) Blood type: O+
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