This article first appeared in High Technology Careers Magazine
Vol. 10 / No. 1     Feb/Mar, 1993

A Picture Is Still Worth a Thousand Words
or
No Pane, No Gain

by Ken Schiff

The old adage that "a picture is worth a thousand words" is as valid today as ever. That's why Microsoft Windows with its graphic user interface (GUI) is quickly becoming the preferred environment of the users and the dominant operating system in the PC marketplace.

According to a Microsoft position paper, the Microsoft systems software strategy is Windows. With over 10 million users and over 5,000 available applications, it seems that the strategy is working. Why? Is it all that marketing hype? Or is Windows and the GUI really better for the end user than the traditional character-based applications that have prevailed until recently?

The User Wins

Technology for its own sake is of no interest to the business computer user. Productivity is the objective. The consistency of the interface within the Windows environment allows users to learn keystrokes, mouse-clicks, and techniques in a word-processing program, then turn around and use those identical skills in a spreadsheet program. Such standards are unheard of in the character-based world.

We live in an interrupt-driven world. Electronic communications enable us to see and hear history as it is being made. Frequently, this requires us to drop one task and switch to another on a moment's notice. A phone call from your accountant may cause you to put aside a status report you are writing and pick up next year's forecast. With a couple of mouse-clicks, you leave your word-processing program (without waiting to close it) and move quickly to your spreadsheet program. You make the necessary changes and start to recalculate the spreadsheet. A few more clicks takes you right back to the status report, and you resume your work on that document while the spreadsheet continues to calculate in the background. Windows makes multitasking and task switching possible.

Usability

The frequently cited "80/20 rule" holds true in much of the software being written today: 80 percent of the users tap only about 20 percent of the capability of any given program. There is certainly no lack of bells and whistles that programmers can create. However, the challenge is to make the features more accessible. A three-dimensional area chart may depict a scenario perfectly, but it is of no use if it takes two hours to create. A high degree of usability is a virtual requirement of today's Windows software. From icons that are easily understood to menus that are well organized, Windows programs should be intuitive, easy to learn, and flexible. Windows is not a miracle cure-all, and you cannot say that there is no learning curve with Windows products. There certainly is one. Although it is called a "J-curve," it looks more like a check mark (4) and indicates that there is a brief dip in productivity as the user begins to learn about the Windows environment or the particular application and how to navigate within them. But after this initial period, productivity accelerates rapidly. It is important for managers to understand this and realize that the investment they make in hardware and software has to be matched with allowance for learning. It is an investment in people and will pay off handsomely in reduced training, administrative, and support costs.

Shortcomings

Windows is evolving and in its current version (3.1) is not without its shortcomings. Two areas that involve issues of design do not necessitate waiting for tomorrow's technology to implement but, with modifications, could be implemented today.

First, every Windows program should include an uninstall program. Because the Windows operating system frequently requires that programs deposit files in the Windows and/or System directories and make changes to the WINDOWS.INI and/or SYSTEM.INI files, it does not take very much time or many "trial disks" before you have a real mess on your hands. All Windows programs should include a utility that will go out to the hard disk and delete the files and other vestiges of the program being removed. ZSoft includes this capability with UltraFAX. Public pressure forced the majority of software vendors to eliminate copy protection. The same kind of pressure can bring about the universality of uninstall routines.

Second, developers should be required to be inoculated against "iconitis," a programmer's disease that results in his or her cluttering up Windows screens with all manner of icons and buttons festooned with impossible-to-interpret images. Excessive numbers of confusing images make the product less friendly for the end user.

Future Directions

The scalable architecture of Windows takes advantage of constantly evolving hardware while supporting the same user interface, Windows applications, and development tools. Windows NT, scheduled for release the first quarter of 1993, will exploit the power of the most advanced PC hardware. It is designed for high-performance server applications for client-server computing, downsizing applications from host-based (mini-computer and mainframe) systems, and the most demanding desktop applications.

Object linking and embedding (OLE, pronounced oh-LAY), allows you to share information between Windows applications while maintaining connections between them. A word-processing document containing a portion of a spreadsheet and a picture of a product can be easily updated with the assurance that the most recent version of shared data is used. The current version of OLE is 1.0 and still requires the user to be app-centric aware of the application that created the data that is being shared. OLE version 2.0, still in development, will let you to focus on the compound document with little or no concern for the applications that create the document's components. Distinctions between text, spreadsheet data, and graphic objects will blur. This will be truly integrated software.

Recently released Windows 3.1 for Workgroups (WFW) is a peer-to-peer network operating system that allows users to share information (data files) and computer resources (for example, printers) with other members of their workgroup. WFW is designed for small- to medium-sized networks of about 50 or fewer users, and while not a substitute for server-based LANs, it is easier to use and administer. Fully operable with Microsoft LAN Manager and Novell's NetWare, it will soon have tremendous impact on corporate and small business computing. It will be the death knell for sneaker-net.

Future Challenges

Computer technology and Windows application development is on an unstoppable roll. Changes and improvements lead to new and unthought-of features and capabilities. As a result, new metaphors and paradigms emerge. But we must remember that the greatest gadget in the world is useless if no one needs it (or buys it). The user wants to build on what is already known. The challenge is to reconcile standards with innovation, to create features with their benefits, and to allow access to them by everyone.

Note: What follows is the bio that originally appeared in 1993. For an update, point your browser to this link or send Ken an e-mail.

Ken Schiff is an independent consultant who specializes in Windows. A PC user since 1978, he consults in GUI interface, software design, and usability and writes documentation for Windows products. On the end-user side, he does Windows migration, integration, training, and support, as well as workflow analysis. His clients include some of the largest corporations in the United States.

© 1998 Westech's Virtual Job Fair & High Technology Careers and Ken Schiff. All Rights Reserved.