

Why Jakob Nielsen's Windows 8 critique is old-school thinking - dsr12
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57552860-75/why-jakob-nielsens-windows-8-critique-is-old-school-thinking/

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stevenwei
I think the author of this article is being deliberately obtuse and missing
the point of the usability study.

    
    
        Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was once asked what market research 
        went into the creation of the iPad.
    
        "None," Jobs replied, in one of his most celebrated quotes. 
        "It's not the consumers' job to know what they want."
    

Market research is not the same thing as usability testing. It doesn't help to
conflate the two. There's a major difference between the eschewing market
research vs producing a product that your customers are confused by when you
put it in front of them because you de-prioritized usability.

    
    
        That's why the notion that users should be able to grasp the new Windows
        interface right away is a recipe for incrementalism.
    

Not at all. The iPhone user interface was far from incremental. In fact, it
broke many of the traditional UI paradigms found on phones and computers
before its release. That doesn't take away from the fact that it was eminently
intuitive, discoverable, and _usable_.

    
    
        Then again, Nielsen's research and analysis led him to pan the 
        iPad's usability when it debuted two years ago, noting inconsistencies
        in the way different apps work. Of course, that didn't stop consumers
        from snapping up the device in eye-popping numbers.
    

The iPad study pointed out inconsistencies and usability flaws in third party
apps, not the stock OS, many of which have been improved since. The study was
focusing on usability, not making a value judgment on the iPad's potential for
success.

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pedalpete
I have always had difficulty with people quoting Jakob Nielsen on usability.
His website is practically illegible with the blinding color scheme and odd
layout structure.

