Dear Friends, [well, all right, the two of you that have actually looked at this site :-]
it is with amazement and pride I relate that great effort has been made to provide a search function for the Sanger Savers' Instant Recipe Book. And sometimes it comes up with what the user is looking for so that is truly wonderful! Still no breadcrumbs though which, for a recipe book, is an on-going cause of frustration and disappointment to its users.
As we approach the second anniversary of this particular marvel it can be seen to be lagging well behind the development curves of its predecessors. The recent history of the Sausage Factory shows that such devices require about two years before the original [and almost completely arbitrary] content, layout, and functionality come to reflect the requests made by users in their feedback. Relevant content with almost optimal layout and a degree of user friendliness *can* be achieved, even at the Sausage Factory and other large government organisations as long as feedback from users is taken on board as soon as possible.
The problem is this takes us into the time frame for a *major improvement*. The previous four incarnations of in-house on-line recipe book used by the Sanger Savers have each gone through such an evolution. Each has gone from well-nigh-hopeless to not-bad-at-all. Then each one in its turn was removed and replaced with something that did not embody the improvements which had evolved within its predecessor.
Why this has to be so is a mystery.
I hypothesise that it indicates the true rate of information flow from factory floor to the home of the honchos: about a year. This means that once a honcho has blessed the implementation of anything new that new thing is then by definition "Good" if not actually sacred. It follows then that nothing can be wrong with it, so all mid level managers are duty bound to speak this word. Potential insights of a contrary nature coming from users are by definition expressions of ignorance, incompetence or outright heresy. Thus it will take up to a year for such feedback to actually start having any effect. By this time the mid level managers have become aware of problems and may even be ready to admit they don't know all the answers. This watershed or tipping point bodes well for end-users because the pace of improvements picks up.
In the meantime rumours of dissatisfaction have actually started to reach the honchos. These can be ignored as ignorance, incompetence, etc, until somehow or other *someone of importance* mentions hearing of problems. Perhaps this takes place at a cocktail party or other social function [where real people meet?], who knows. But finally one or more honchos decides that that wonderful new thing has not lived up to first expectations; something must be done about it! And so the system which is finally approaching a condition of optimal content [the users are now voting for it by choosing to use it and telling each other that "it's got a lot better these last couple of months!"] is slated for replacement.
We shall see.
it is with amazement and pride I relate that great effort has been made to provide a search function for the Sanger Savers' Instant Recipe Book. And sometimes it comes up with what the user is looking for so that is truly wonderful! Still no breadcrumbs though which, for a recipe book, is an on-going cause of frustration and disappointment to its users.
As we approach the second anniversary of this particular marvel it can be seen to be lagging well behind the development curves of its predecessors. The recent history of the Sausage Factory shows that such devices require about two years before the original [and almost completely arbitrary] content, layout, and functionality come to reflect the requests made by users in their feedback. Relevant content with almost optimal layout and a degree of user friendliness *can* be achieved, even at the Sausage Factory and other large government organisations as long as feedback from users is taken on board as soon as possible.
The problem is this takes us into the time frame for a *major improvement*. The previous four incarnations of in-house on-line recipe book used by the Sanger Savers have each gone through such an evolution. Each has gone from well-nigh-hopeless to not-bad-at-all. Then each one in its turn was removed and replaced with something that did not embody the improvements which had evolved within its predecessor.
Why this has to be so is a mystery.
I hypothesise that it indicates the true rate of information flow from factory floor to the home of the honchos: about a year. This means that once a honcho has blessed the implementation of anything new that new thing is then by definition "Good" if not actually sacred. It follows then that nothing can be wrong with it, so all mid level managers are duty bound to speak this word. Potential insights of a contrary nature coming from users are by definition expressions of ignorance, incompetence or outright heresy. Thus it will take up to a year for such feedback to actually start having any effect. By this time the mid level managers have become aware of problems and may even be ready to admit they don't know all the answers. This watershed or tipping point bodes well for end-users because the pace of improvements picks up.
In the meantime rumours of dissatisfaction have actually started to reach the honchos. These can be ignored as ignorance, incompetence, etc, until somehow or other *someone of importance* mentions hearing of problems. Perhaps this takes place at a cocktail party or other social function [where real people meet?], who knows. But finally one or more honchos decides that that wonderful new thing has not lived up to first expectations; something must be done about it! And so the system which is finally approaching a condition of optimal content [the users are now voting for it by choosing to use it and telling each other that "it's got a lot better these last couple of months!"] is slated for replacement.
We shall see.
