03.04.10
It’s Time for Excitement!
[Cartoon]
We all prefer visualization as a way of communicating. Even the so-called “boring” accountants prefer the visual of a spreadsheet to show the values and relationships of numbers. So why is the business world still so wrapped up in forms?
It seems as though all of the business systems’ interfaces require people to use forms. Whether you are making an application for a loan, ordering something over the internet, or just visiting your doctor, there are forms to be filled out. At work you must fill out forms for keeping time, scheduling vacations, doing trip reports, project plans, project reports, staff evaluations, customer contacts, customer evaluations, etc. Automation seems to be all about forms, forms, and more forms when there is work to be done.
Forms are just not fun. Can you imagine playing a video game and shooting aliens by filling out forms? How about driving your car by filling out forms? Where is the dividing line for being actively involved in the action and simply providing information so someone else can take action?
We all want visual interaction. We want interaction that recognizes that we are people. Computers read data, but we should not have to come down to the level of the computer when we need to communicate.
Microsoft and Apple have done more work to provide us with visual interfaces than any of the other organizations. They continue to set the bar higher so computers can work the way we want them to work.
Yet, these organizations continue to battle it out for a competitive edge and ignore standards that would be beneficial to us all. For example, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a great standard for 2D graphic interaction and animation. X3D (eXtensible 3D) is great for 3D graphic interaction and animation. These exciting industry standards are not supported by Microsoft or Apple.
We are people first and computer-minded second. We want natural ways to communicate with our computers. We can learn new interfaces as long as we can retain our human identity. We are willing to step up. But, we expect our computers to take a giant leap. We know computers think in numbers, but we do not. Interfaces with the computer need to be more of an extension of our being, like driving a car or playing a video game. Bring on the excitement!
[Please comment and share your experience.]
Closing the Business / IT gap
