UI Design Tip: Think Inversely

Since today's theme turned out to be UI design, here is a general UI design tip that offers a nice bang for the buck: Think Inversely.  A good time to think inversely is when you have a question.  For example, instead of just asking what to show in the UI, ask what should not be shown.  Why?  Because each addition you make to the UI is a potention source of confusion and distraction for the user.

Improving Open Source UI

My response to Eric Raymond's rant on the poor quality of open source UI is: No Kidding, Sherlock.  It shouldn't surprise anyone that open source UI is crappy and I am surprised that it took Eric this long to notice the problem.  As to why, it's because:

  • open source developers have little interest nor incentive to do it right.
  • most software developers lack the knowledge and experience to design good UIs.
  • UI design is hard and insanely tedious, even for the professionals.

Frankly, I don't think it is realistic to expect open source developers to build good UIs.  Instead, open source software should be designed to make it easier for others to change or replace the UI without understanding the code underneath.  Let a thousand UIs bloom and may the best one win.  In other words, leverage evolution in pursuit of good UIs.

Unrelated Post: Corporate Blogger's Dinner

Burning Social Networks

Bill Burnham has another enjoyable post in which he trashes developing VC frenzy around the social networking scene.  Like him, I see little value in current crop of social networking companies.  It's no more compelling than standing bare naked in a large hall with thousands of people, mostly strangers, with nothing to do except talk.

Blogosphere is a social network of sort, but the social network is a by-product of the blogging, meaning social network is the effect rather than the cause.  Social networking companies are attempting to go in the wrong direction.  Another major difference is that they are building closed social networks where blogosphere is an open social network. 

Coup d’eta

Ross Mayfield writes about Coup d'eta.  I grew up with the word although I didn't even know how to spell it.  Whenever my father came home intoxicated, he would tell my brother and I that one of us must become a general and rescue the country through Coup d'eta.  That was when General Park Jung-Hee was in power.

My father said he tried the peaceful ways and none worked.  He even met with General Park at one time and demanded that the general hand over the power to civilians.  The general's answer was that he wanted to but he couldn't because of his followers, soldiers who overthrew the administration my father was in.  I guess the general was trapped on the back of a tiger he unleashed.

So my father attempted to put together his own Coup d'eta without success.  Other generals were sympathetic but were not willing to bet their life on the line.  In the end, my father was sentenced to death for his anti-government activities.  Thankfully, he was let go after promising to quit politic.  I am glad he did because, while the general eventually got assassinated by his own man, my father is still very much alive.

Update:

I couldn't find the photo taken after the meeting with General Park on March 17th, 1963, so I took a picture of the one in my father's autobiography.

Get out!  Can't!  How about a picture then?

The shorty on the left is General Park.  My father is the one on the right.  If he looks pissed off, that's because the general had the nerve to say no to him.  Heh.  Steel meets steel was the thought I had when I first saw the picture.

BizTalk Server 2004

Just got back from the BizTalk Server 2004 launch event at Microsoft's Mountain View campus.  From what I saw there, I think BizTalk product line has matured enough to be useful.  Tool-wise, BizTalk is at par with Collaxa now.  It's integration with Office and Visual Studio.NET was impressive.  Testimonial from the Virgin group should excite businesses enough to bite in substantial numbers.

BizTalk Server 2004 is more like a destroyer, moving ahead of the rest of Microsoft 2004 series of servers.  It will be interesting to see how BEA, IBM, Oracle, and Sun responds.  I think the value of Collaxa as a buyout candidate has just shot up.

Bay Area Corporate Blogger’s Dinner – March 24th

Tentative date and time for the Corporate Blogger's Dinner is March 24th at 7PM.  Location wise, it will be Venture Frogs in San Francisco.

As to who should attend, don't worry too much about it.  I would like to encourage blog software and service companies to attend also so they can understand the needs of corporate bloggers (what ever that means).  I am organizing the event for the same reason.

Please comment to this post if you are planning to attend.  Even if you are not attending, please pass on the news of the event.

Update:

Venture Frogs will be the location, mainly because the place has parking.  Also, I felt Cafe Bastille was too noisy.