I am a regular follower of Hugh McLeod and his unique picture blog at GapingVoid. This particular cartoon by Hugh caught my attention a few days ago and I was constantly thinking about how true it is with regard to the work we (I) do.
We write a lot of code for a lot of projects.. we build lots of pages that hundreds and thousands of people will look at and interact with every day.
Most of the time we are engrossed in thinking about stuff like what the code looks like, if the data is coming from the database, are we able to navigate the pages, etc.
However, a project is not all about what the software can do.. it’s about what the user can do with the software!
How many times do we actually think about how the user would feel, think and react, looking at our page for the first (and maybe even after the first) time?
We execute all our test cases perfectly, click what needs to be clicked, enter just the right data that needs to be entered.. because we know what to do. We know what data the code accepts, and what needs to be done after what, because we designed and coded the application.
How about the user then?
Have we given him enough information to know what to do?
Is our page easy to understand, and the flow of elements in the right order?
Have we allowed him to enter only the right kind of data, in the right place, at the right time?
Have we prevented him from doing something he should not?
In other words, did we put ourselves in the user’s shoes while testing it?
These are some of the things we need to ask ourselves when writing any software that is meant to be exposed to a large audience.
It takes a little effort to think about and understand something we know so well from a layman’s perspective. But that little effort will lead to great improvement in the quality and usability of the software we develop.
What if you understand that your choice was wrong? Can you change your choice?
Chin-kun [12:51 PM]:
The choice can never be wrong or right
its just a path
how we understand it can be right or wrong
Toyoyo [12:51 PM]:
Hahaha
Thats the most preposterous thing I've heard today. :)
Chin-kun [12:52 PM]:
preposterous?
why?
Toyoyo [12:52 PM]:
Because if you already made your choice, then why do you need to understand it if you can't change it anyway?
Chin-kun [12:53 PM]:
hmm.. well you need to understand why you made that choice. dont you
thats when u will execute it
Toyoyo [12:53 PM]:
What if I don't try to understand?
Chin-kun [12:53 PM]:
You will have to eventually
even if you dont try to
Toyoyo [12:54 PM]:
What if I am absolutely adamant?
Chin-kun [12:54 PM]:
You cant be.. you have already made a choice that you want to understand it
Toyoyo [12:54 PM]:
Edchinav
Chin-kun [12:54 PM]:
nee moham
its as clear as u want it be
again the choice is made.. you have to understand why you made it
here also.. you made a choice not to try to understand the concept
now why you have made it.. because you dont want to believe it
Toyoyo [12:55 PM]:
So life is all about trying to understand why we are living, rather than living itself?
Chin-kun [12:55 PM]:
as if sans the so called rational path which you are accustomed to
thats what you have been doing since pat 24 yrs right?
past*
trying to reason out and understand why things happen the way they happen
Toyoyo [12:56 PM]:
Then what about Neo's statement about fate? That he likes to make his own future?
Does that mean you have no say in what happens to you?
You cannot influence your life in any way?
Chin-kun [12:57 PM]:
nope
it dosnt
nope
its the choice you make
no one else makes it
only that you make it before you actually think you do
Toyoyo [12:57 PM]:
Then you're just a puppet dancing on a stage.. with no idea what you are doing and why you are doing it..
Chin-kun [12:58 PM]:
every action leads to another action
every choice leads to another choice
Toyoyo [12:58 PM]:
A choice which you have no idea you made, but you apparently made it anyway.
Which can mean that you didn't make the choice, you were made to make that choice.
Chin-kun [12:59 PM]:
Nope..
you make choices..
and u only make them
Toyoyo [12:59 PM]:
If I did have that power, why can't I change my choice?
Chin-kun [12:59 PM]:
how can u undo past?
u have already made a choice.. its over
how can u undo it?
Toyoyo [1:00 PM]:
What use is there in making a choice without understanding it before making it?
Chin-kun [1:00 PM]:
thats the beauty of life!
thats where uncertainity and godliness is thrown in
if u knew all ur future..
whats the whole purpose
you have already made your choices..
when time comes u just try to understand them
Toyoyo [1:01 PM]:
I dont say I want to know my future. I only say I want to be able to make the path that leads to it.
Chin-kun [1:01 PM]:
Today coming to office or not
is not something which u decided today
Toyoyo [1:01 PM]:
And to make that choice in all consciousness
Chin-kun [1:02 PM]:
its already decided earlier
looks at it this way
your coming today to office has n number of external reasons..
+ internal reasons
same goes for not coming
have all the reasons come now?
nope
they started probably a day ago, a week ago, a decade ago or a century ago
so the choice of u going to office or not has been made earlier..
by u
but now u understand them.. thats all
Toyoyo [1:05 PM]:
Simply putting, life is a sequence of choices we don't understand until after we make them, which influence what choices we will have to make in the future, which we don't understand either. In other words, you are living in a world where nothing happens as you want it to happen, at least not because you want it. If something does happen as you wanted it, its because you chose unknowingly a path which lead to that outcome, which is pure chance.
Chin-kun [1:11 PM]:
Right
Sivagna lenidhe chima aina kadaladhu ani
uttiga anale
but twist in the story happen
if u make a right choice now.. that is follow the path of righteousness.. you will end up with the correct path
Toyoyo [1:13 PM]:
Ok, now, make the choice.. are we having lunch or not?
