The other day, I sent my latest program to a friend of mine to test and he asked if I wouldn’t mind some constructive feedback. I’m always hesitant to get user interface feedback as last time I did (from an Apple UI guru), I was in the host seat for well over an hour getting what I thought was a good user interface ripped apart. Anyway, I told my friend that as long as it didn’t involve brushed metal (the look that Apple is using everywhere in excess), I’d listen. Over the course of a day or so, we exchanged instant messages and email and I was amazed to see the transformation. While I thought my program was technically solid, I wasn’t all that pleased with the user interface before; it was very utilitarian. My friend’s ideas along with some of my own sparked by his comments turned my program into something that I’m extremely pleased to show off (when the time comes).
User interfaces will never be perfect or to everyone’s liking, but a little effort and a little different perspective can go a long way.