Thread by @MrAlanCooper

Apple’s Word processing program comes with lots of elegant, colorful templates. I’ve never once used any of them. 1

I do, however, make my own templates and use them for almost every document I create.

When I create a new document, the template chooser dialog appears on the screen. I click on one and that becomes the template for my new document. 2

The templates that I have created, and that I use every single time are at the bottom of the long collection of never-used Apple templates. I have to scroll down to the very bottom. The “End” key has been inconveniently disabled, so can’t even do this with one button. 3

This is just plain bad interface design. Apple has the reputation for the best design in the world. How could this happen? What is missing from this situation? What do companies think that design is, if not stuff like this? 4

I’m not even talking about interaction design here. None of that strategic stuff like, “who is the user?” “What does the user want to accomplish?” “Are there better ways to think about this problem?”

This is kindergarten stuff. 5

I don’t think that designers are stupid, or evil, or out of touch. I don’t think designers fill interfaces with crappy interactions because they are lazy or ill-informed. 6

I think there is another force acting on designers that is stronger than all of their training, their instincts, and their scruples. 7

This force that makes them create ugly & stupid interactions overpowers their schooling, the lessons they learned prototyping interactions in small teams at CMU and Stanford, overpowers their innate desire to help users understand, the desire that drove them to this profession. 8

This force is huge. It’s ten feet tall and twenty feet long, with gray, rough skin, with big ears and stout legs. It’s warm, with curious eyes, and it breathes through a long, long snout. And it’s right here. Right here in this room! What could it be? 9