Today I had one of the most difficult conversations to date in my life. The conversation went something like this.
Engineer: Why redesign the Microsoft print dialog when it has been successfully used by users for the past 10 years?
Me: The real problem with the print dialog is the fact that it is inherently broken from a design and interaction standpoint. If you design something better, you are able to show users what the interaction should be and how crappy the traditional print dialog is.
Engineer: Yes, but you will be going against the current method and confuse the user by providing a different method of printing.
It finally dawned on me the problem with the ‘old school’. Just because you use a cookie cutter design style published by the Microsoft or Apple doesn’t mean you are providing a good user experience. Providing a good user experience is showing the user what they really deserve, and pointing out the flaws that have been forced upon them by companies that didn’t take in account their needs. Good user experience gives people the ability to use comparative experiences to demand better products and services in the future.