El gran Jakob Nielsen (gurú de la usabilidad tan profundamente odiado por los diseñadores web) compara en su última alertbox el mundo del futuro con el mundo descrito en los libros de Harry Potter. Según él, gran parte del atractivo de los libros se basa en una serie de objeto que de pronto cobran vida y muestran comportamientos activos. Pronto, dice, nuestro mundo podría parecerse al de Harry Potter.
Pero va más allá. Hay otra curiosa similitud entre el mundo informático y el mundo de Harry Potter. En ambos, hay dos grupos claramente diferentes. En Harry Potter, magos y muggles (humanos sin magia). En el nuestro, personas que comprenden los ordenadores y personas que no:
In the Harry Potter books, the ethical wizards have agreed to leave the Muggles alone and not do magic tricks on them. It seems that computer wizards have something to learn from Harry Potter, because they often use their power in ways that are harmful to regular people.
I typically argue against poor Internet usability because it reduces a company’s ability to generate business value from its website. Bad customer service equals fewer customers. However, the bigger picture is even worse: Every page that doesn’t conform to expected behavior and design conventions undermines users’ ability to build a conceptual model of the Web, and thus reduces their ability to use other sites with ease, confidence, and pleasure. Designers who inflict poor usability on the world and its Muggles are wicked wizards indeed.
Wicked wizards indeed…
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