Last night I finished my taxes. Though it was no small feat it seemed almost pleasurable - before you call the IRS / local asylums (one in the same) let me explain:
A coworker turned me on to an awesome book by Robert Hoekman, Jr named designing the obvious. Hoekman talks about practical approaches to designing web applications - nothing revolutionary, right? That's what I thought...
In the past I have always bought the tax software, downloaded it, installed it, updated it, used it (rather misused it), updated it again, submitted my taxes, then uninstalled it - never to be used again. I do this because, just as Hoekman explains, "Typically, users latch on to the first [software] tool they find that they can tolerate, and they stick to it."
Yes, I lost count of how many times the application crashed or had to be updated, and it wasn't the fastest or easiest to use, and yes I often felt like the software was telling me "you're not good enough to use me, do you even know what a 1040x is, ummm you don't need to use that field but I have displayed it there to mislead you muahaha...". But I used it none the less, not willing to try the web version.
From "designing the obvious": "When an application is designed badly, it tells you at every opportunity just how bad it is. But when it's good, you usually can't explain why it's good. You can't put your finger on it, but you know it when you see it."
I used the web version of the software this year. Initially I was insulted, barking out things like, "What!? You can't even search on which form your using", "Where are the long explanations of what fields 1-200 mean", or "Where are the gratuitous fields that are intended to mislead and distract". As I used the app I began to get it - this old dog was eating his own food.
They designed the online tax program based on the activity that needed to be preformed (Activity-Centered Design - Designing Web Applications for Use) and dropped the over abundance of "enhancements" and so called "features" its client based brother has.
After being humbled by great software design and confidently addressing the burning hot coals of Tax Season I felt good, empowered almost. "Software shouldn't force users to understand how it works so they can learn to do things with it." - designing the obvious
That's what makes good software, that's what makes an obvious design, that's what empowers users to get the job done.