Re:Hidden features and hierarchies (Score 1)

Most people seem to be very bad at forming a mental model of how software works. Of course, this is partly because there is a lot of software which does not have any consistent model, but still a lot of users will only do a few linear operations they have learnt, and have to be taught further operations, rather than grokking the whole program. And then you end up with horrible, horrible "wizards" as the only way of getting things done.

Starting with a simplified system would perhaps alleviate this. But how can this be done? Simply taking out half the menu options seems a bit crude. :-)

I think you pointed to the answer when you said "there is a lot of software which does not have any consistent model". I'd say most software doesn't have a consistant model , and if it does, it's been buried deep beneath all those menu items and buttons bars and floating palettes.

Piles of features (and those 'horrible, horrible "wizards"') is evidence that the model has been lost. Piles of features, button bars, palettes, and those horrible wizards are the easy but poor substitutes for a good model. "Starting with a simplified system" is the easy part. Adhering to the model is the hard part (Netscape was never great at adhering to the model, but they really unadhered when they introduced frames).

Creating a model that can satisfy a reasonable set of requirements is difficult, and creating one that can grow and evolve is harder. It's much easier to get out of the modelling business and simply pile on features.

A pile of features is very easy to evolve. It's easy to quantify, and it's easy to sell, and I think this will be the case for some time because so many people have been convinced that "software application" means "pile of features" (distinguished from "operating system" which is the "big pile of features that comes with the computer").

But a pile of features is still a pile of features, and a well designed model is a better basis for an application. The problem is that the current software dev culture, economy, and market, isn't suited to building model based software.

Is there a solution? Hell yes. With all the dot-com billions, why doesn't some company put together a group that doesn't need to be fiscally accountable (call it a charity), has no deadline, and given a charter to solve a simple problem. The right way. With a catchy motto like "quality is job 1.0".