JDPFu.com 2025

Software Usability is an art form. It isn’t easy, but here’s a suggestion for all the product managers out there.

Give the software to your Mother. Can she use it? Can she figure it out with 10 minutes of 1-on-1 training?

If she can’t then, you’ve failed. Try again.

If there is a trick, then you’ve failed too. Apple likes their tricks. The first time I used an ipod, I couldn’t turn it off or change tracks because they were too lazy to properly mark the buttons.
The first time I used a Mac after college, I needed to format a floppy disk and couldn’t figure out how. The menus didn’t have “format” on them until the disk was inserted.