Death by 1000 cuts; it’s an apt expression in the software world. I’m a user, and I create software. I consistently encounter numerous bugs and annoyances. It’s unfair to subject people to frustration and suffering. Let’s meditate on the subject of software quality.
The Apocalypse
Some say mounting software problems signify the impending apocalypse. Once I realized they were right, I tried to share the message on YouTube, but that was impossible.
Beyond bugs, annoyances like application focus theft plague our experiences.
Some have ideas for solutions, but solving these problems requires a scorched-earth approach. We must adopt new platforms with limited lines of code between clicking and saving a file. If we don’t, software development teams will perpetually ruin user experiences.
Change is Hard
We dislike change. Some of us still use the Bulletin Board Systems of yore. Enticing people with better user experiences is the way out.
Some believe their operating system is flawless, but they’re kidding themselves. Every operating system has bugs, and every operating system has its annoyances. To improve user experiences, software development and platforms must make stability THE core principle.
Luckily, change is possible. New systems will replace the wasteland of broken user experiences; It’s inevitable.
It’s A Battlefield
While writing this article, I encountered several bugs. I’m typing these words, and LinkedIn added zero padding below the text. The formatting remained when pasting text from another web page, and the whole paragraph turned bold. 😒
I pressed enter after image insertion, and my cursor was underneath the download dialog. It doesn’t take long to realize you’re a rat in a cage.
I feel sad for users. It’s the fuel that drives me to produce top-class software.
Love & Technology
I love my wife; she begrudgingly tolerates technology. On the other hand, I love using software to increase productivity, so we started using Evernote.
Evernote has been around since 2008. I hoped eleven years would be enough time to iron out bugs, but my hopes were shattered. 💔
I shared a notebook with my wife and grabbed her phone to verify it worked. I spent over ten minutes with this because someone forced users to press synchronize before sending a push notification to the recipient.
Why?! 😱
Imagine a light switch that requires another light switch to turn it on. 🤦🏻♂️
More Empathy?
I don’t have an answer to this madness and don’t like living in it.
We have blind spots when understanding our shared experiences. If we spend ample time considering our experiences, we may solve our technology problems as human problems.
Check out my article on migrating from Evernote to Joplin if you’re a frustrated Evernote user.