Wrench in the System What's Sabotaging Your Business Software and How You Can Release the Power to Innovate

by Hambrose, Harold; Boyarski, Dan

• ISBN13: 9780470413432
• ISBN10: 0470413433
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-08-07
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Wrench In The SystemWhat's sabotaging your business software and how you can release the power to innovateHarold HambrosePraise forWrench in the System"Look to Harold Hambrose to make significant contributions to safer health care records through interface design, product design, and data visualization. Wrench in the System should be the bible for corporate executives striving to gain a competitive advantage in these trying times." -Alan Siegel, Chairman and CEO, Siegel+Gale"During the short history of computing, interface design has usually been neglected, resulting in software that is cumbersome and counterintuitive.? In this book, Harold Hambrose calls for design where 'help' is helpful and where clutter is eliminated.?He describes a set of commonsense principles and asserts the essential place of design in superior products.? Together with thought leaders like Edward Tufte, Harold Hambrose reminds us that great design can change the world."??? -Tony Pizi, CIO, Asset Management Platform Services, Deutsche Bank"Making computer information easily available to people in their work can help organizations meet their most important goals. This book recommends adopting traditional methods and procedures of design to do so, and suggests that turning data into accessible information could be a high calling for designers now. I wish?we?designers were as wise as?the?author considers us!? But we, as much as?computer users?in business, can learn deep lessons?from his confrontation of the challenges?of information design today, and?his demonstration of how our own techniques can?apply to meeting them." -Denise Scott Brown, Principal, Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates,and coauthor, Learning from?Las Vegas

Author Biography

Harold Hambrose is the CEO and founder of Electronic Ink, a design consultancy he established in 1990. His company has transformed the operations of many Fortune 500 companies by showing them new ways to collaborate, innovate, and design low-cost solutions to some of their most expensive problems. His clients include British Petroleum, Comcast, Research In Motion, McDonald's, and dozens of other industry leaders, nonprofit organizations, and govern-ment agencies.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface: An Invisible Edge

Acknowledgments

It's Just A Product!

The World's Biggest Lemons

The Checklist

Failure To Communicate

Behind The Hype

The Wrench On The Front Seat

Inventing An Experience

Designing The Invisible

Just What We Need

Design To Delight

The Emperor's New Enterprise System

Software's Missing Feature

Who's The Customer?

Security Solutions: A Better Set Of Keys

Navigating Notre Dame

Communicating By Design

Teaching Etiquette To An ATM

The Reality Check

Form, Function, And Spirit

Specify Innovation

Stranded At Heathrow

Don't Blame Technology

The Transparent Dashboard

When Green Means STOP

Listening To The Receiver

öPeople Are Differentö

Removing Roadblocks

Easy As Pie: The Tale Of A Tool

What We Need To Know

Consider The Consequences

Lessons From The Underground

The Workaround Wizard

Continuous Education

Building On Assumptions

Sprinting Toward Second-Rate

Automating The Status Quo

Frozen In The ICU

The Right Team

Designing A New Experience

The Science Of Common Sense

A Tendency To Crash

Designers And The Art Of Interpretation

Looking At A Project From Every Angle

Analyzing An Emergency

The Other Customers

What Your Staff Won't Tell You

A Powerful Partnership

Find Out What You Really Need

The Correct Definition

Missing Information And Lost Limbs

Beyond Technology

Meaningful Information

A Shortcut Through The Warehouse

A Common Language

Hobos And Hieroglyphs

An Accurate Translation

Beautiful Data

What Business Hasn't Even Thought Of

Channeling Rivers Of Energy

Believe It When You See It

When Prototype Becomes Product

Envisioning The Chrysler Building

The Hidden Costs Of Guesswork

Modeling A Vision Of The Future

Breaking The Cycle Of Failure

Leave Nothing To Interpretation

Rethinking And Redrawing

Survey The Landscape

Picture It!

Showing Why

Restart The System

Find Out How They Really Feel

Check For Physical Evidence

Define Your Priorities

Make Sure That ôHelpö Is Helpful

Watch Your Language

Eliminate Clutter

Consider The Context

Rethink The Form

Take The Measure Of The Problem

Get An Outside Opinion

Your Next System

What Is This Thing?

Is This What We Really Need?

A $100 Million Guinea Pig?

Will The Basic Model Do The Job?

Who Will Be Using It?

WhatÆs It Like To Use?

Are The Information Displays Informative?

How Clearly Does It Communicate?

How Forgiving Is It?

How Will It Support Our Brand?

Is This Product Truly Innovative?

What Do Training And ôChange Managementö Really Mean?

What Real Information Does The Manufacturer Have About User Adoption And Effectiveness?

What About Those Service Contracts And Future Upgrades?

Maximizing Your Design Resources

Tough Questions For Consultants

Notes

Index

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