

Thinking of your software as a butler is difficult but important - cool-RR
http://blog.garlicsim.org/post/1388741380/thinking-of-your-software-as-a-butler-is-difficult-but

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roadnottaken
Some software should be like a powertool, not a butler. It really depends on
who you're developing for, I guess, but I can think of lots of software (e.g.
Linux CLI tools, IDEs, CAD, etc) that should _not_ treat the user like a
pampered idiot.

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spudlyo
I'm sometimes annoyed by programs who won't terminate when I ask them to. When
I ask a program to quit, I mean it. I don't care if work is unsaved, I don't
care what it is doing on my behalf, I want it dead.

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philwelch
The worst is when I reboot to install system updates. Then every program I
have open feels perfectly entitled to whine that I don't want to browse web
pages anymore or something and cancel my restart command.

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staktrace
Link to interesting article that was posted in the comments:
[http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1045782.h...](http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-1045782.html)

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alttab
I try to take this approach as well. The minute you start thinking of "minor
inconveniences" for the user, you already don't care about them. Your tip will
be small.

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mkilling
Making your app suck less is easy: go watch real users

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xiongchiamiov
With all of the things we try and do to improve our software, we always seem
to miss this one. It's amazing how much your perspective will change.

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praptak
This analogy has been explored in "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum" book by
Alan Cooper. It's a good book, despite some deserved criticism (
<http://sheddingbikes.com/posts/1285436217.html> ) it raised.

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stcredzero
This makes me think of personal assistants. Has anyone tried Timothy Ferris'
"life outsourcing" with a virtual personal assistant? Is it all it's cracked
up to be?

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joelhooks
I've always looked at what I do as building helper robots for people to make
their work life suck a little less.

