Book details of 'The Trouble with Computers: Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity'

Title	The Trouble with Computers: Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity
Author(s)	Thomas K. Landauer
ISBN	0262121867
Language	English
Published	April 1995
Publisher	MIT Press

---

Back to shelf Computer
Amazon.com info for The Trouble with Computers: Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity

Score:

Vote for this book

The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'The Trouble with Computers: Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity':

Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Oh yes, we got Trouble! Right here in Silicon Valley! With a capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" And that stands for Design! (Poor Design!) Landauer has compiled an impressive collection of studies and statistics to show that computers are not contributing to productivity as they ought. Liberally sprinkled with computer horror stories occurring to his friends, family, and self, both anecdotes and academics point out what readers of the RISKS-FORUM Digest know already--we are using computers the wrong way. Over and over again, we see instances of bad design. Devices and interfaces that are unusable. Mission-critical tasks entrusted to insufficiently reliable machines. Whole systems viewed only from the output end. About halfway through the book, the statement is made that computers are marvelous toys: this is quite true. The trouble is that the majority of computer owners are demanding more frills on their toys, drowning out the faint cries of those who need more design in their tools. Landauer's solution is UCD, an acronym that stands for three variations on "user-centred design". This sounds a lot like human factors engineering or, as we highly technical types refer to it, doing a good job. Anyone involved in the implementation or support of technology knows that bad designs abound, and that more care should be taken to improve usability. This work does not offer significant help in that direction. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1995
Add my review for The Trouble with Computers: Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity