Robert | 1.16.2006 @ 1:59 PM
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Ever found yourself uttering the statement "it's not a big deal" when deciding to let something you know is a usability problem make its way into a final product? Yeah, me too. I'm going to stop now. Here's why:

A few days ago, some people inside of a company I work with decided to use Flash Player 8 for their latest project. Why? Well, it it wasn't because Flash Player 8 does anything they actually need, but rather, because a graphic designer, while building out some Flash content, accidentally used Flash 8's new Filters feature, not realizing the filters only work with Flash Player 8. And instead of going back to fix his mistake, he decided to push for using Flash Player 8.

The project manager contacted the client's "tech guy", who replied by saying that the client's users get around the web quite a bit and have probably run into a Flash Player 8 installer at some point, so "it should be fine" to use Flash Player 8.

Even if 80% of the users within this client have already upgraded their plug-ins, you're now asking the remaining 20% to upgrade without a compelling reason (the project could have, and should have, been built for Flash Player 6). They may never know that you're doing this - as far as they're concerned, you're requiring the upgrade for a good reason - but you are, in fact, inconveniencing them for no reason.

Since this decision, I've heard at least one person say "It's no big deal."

Yeah. It's not really important to respect your users. Inconvenience them however you want. They'll take it. They'll suffer. They'll do whatever you want them to do, because you have the power and they have none. Right?

Of course, following this logic, they may eventually decide they might like another company better, and stop asking you to design the projects for them.

When you say "it's no big deal", you add to the already gigantic list of other things programmers and such have let slide with the same sentence. Your particular item is not the only one they'll come across that day. They'll come across a thousand other instances where someone said "it's no big deal" and let something slide. These so-called little things are huge in the minds of users. Coming across a few of these in a day adds up to frustration and resentment, not productivity.

Next time you find youself saying "it's no big deal", ask yourself the following: "If we fixed this, and did it well, would that make us better than the other guys?"

Yes. Yes it would. Fixing it, making it better, would make you incrementally better than the other guys. Do this enough times, and you'll have an application that makes you far superior to the other guys. Put out enough software while living by this rule, and there won't be any "other guys". You'll be the only one left standing.