The tunnel vision syndrome
By Amir Ansari, 26 May, 2008
It all started with an internal discussion we had at work. Our Design Director asked all the consultants if they had any inputs into a presentation on User Centred Design being delivered to a group of developers.
A flurry of emails followed – off the topic mind you - ranging from developers not caring about cost and usability and only loving their code, through to the need to get developers in the design process early because they are so valuable to this process.
While all these emails went back and forth, my mind began to sidetrack and wander. I started to stumble across the realization that this inherent instinct to protect one’s code or ‘creation’ is not just limited to developers, but it is in fact a human trait. We all do it! Let me explain.
I just recently bought some Venetian blinds and being a handy man, decided to install them myself. Now, most architraves and window framings are quite simple and support Venetian blinds reasonably well. My house isn’t quite so simple and hence I had to use my creative flare to install them. Five hours later and numerous efforts to find studs and adjusting the levelling due to our sinking house, I managed to install the blinds. Now let me make it clear that I am a Virgo, and hence a perfectionist. I step back and look at my hard work and effort and smile with arrogance at having won my battle with the window frame and successfully installed the blinds.
It took my wife three minutes to comment on the faults and imperfections of my installation. Funnily enough, I went into defensive mode straightaway and argued my case and my perfect job at finding a solution to this difficult problem. I was almost heart broken that she was focusing on the 'bigger picture' and hadn’t appreciated my hard work and intricate solution. The discussion at work I talked about earlier suddenly popped into my head. Oh my god, I’m one of those (referring to developers and their love for their clever code to a complex problem).
I had failed to step back and look at the bigger picture, which is what I do every day at work as a UCD practitioner. I had been sucked into a narrow tunnel of specific problem solving and had totally forgotten about the importance of installing the blind from an aesthetic level.
It is not just about developers. Humans by their nature tend to get bugged down with detail, especially when they’ve been engulfed with a specific problem solving activity.
So what am I actually trying to say? Two things: firstly, apologies to all those developers who constantly get referred to as “code loving techies who can’t step back and look at the bigger picture”. It’s not just you, it’s all of us. Secondly, I want to emphasise the importance of UCD practitioners (and indeed anyone) to constantly step back and question their own design solutions against the high level intended goal.
