If you care about usability, and why good ideas go bad, and read nothing else on the subject, please read this: Clippy and User Experiences.

This is a (kind of) insider account of how Clippy got made, and the author evidences the same perplexity we all have when good ideas go wrong:

"There was a lot of research at the time around how many people interact with computers by anthropomorphizing them - that is, treating them like a person rather than as a tool. I guess the theory was that if you could provide an interface for the computer that expressed emotion and that you could interact with, you would be less likely to develop animosity toward your PC (much like the impassive camera lens of HAL9000 caused tension), and would actually be encouraged to learn and interact."

Look, we all know Clippy was the hallmark of usability research gone wrong--but no one can quite say why. Here's what I see:

"There was a lot of research at the time": Yes, lots of research, lots of big ideas. Long tail, anyone? Portals maybe?
"if you could provide an interface for the computer that expressed emotion"--Interfaces do not express emotion. People STILL want them to do this in one way or another, but they don't. Look, even Lt. Cmdr. Data is annoying after five seconds, and he's way more advanced than a PC. People want their machines to be--well, machines.
"you would be less likely to develop animosity toward your PC"--Did it EVER occur to anyone that developing animosity towards one's PC had more to do with the Blue Screen of Death than, I dunno, ctrl+F+S?

I came across this article when I was looking for an example of over-reverence of "usability" for my project management class, because I have the (sinking) suspicion that many bad ideas come from charismatic, flighty project managers. I don't think I'm wrong, either--Clippy was *definitely* the brainchild of someone who prided him or herself on "strategy" and "usability". No doubt he or she is still a millionaire now, but Clippy--not so much. He's back to working at Staples, organizing the other paperclips into little cardboard boxes, wondering--like all child stars--what happened. "I coulda been a contender!" Clippy says, while hustling the other paper-clipping devices into a staff meeting.

Labels: Microsoft, Microsoft Office