The Inmates are Running the AsylumThe Inmates are Running the Asylum argues that, despite appearances, business executives are simply not the ones in control of the high-tech industry. They have inadvertently put programmers and engineers in charge, leading to products and processes that waste huge amounts of money, squander customer loyalty, and erode competitive advantage. They have let the inmates run the asylum. Alan Cooper offers a provocative, insightful and entertaining explanation of how talented people continuously design bad software-based products. More importantly, he uses his own work with companies big and small to show how to harness those talents to create products that will both thrill their users and grow the bottom line. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - mhanlon - LibraryThingI think this book may have been more relevant in its time, so I don't think there's much point picking at any threads that bothered me about this book. It's just that a lot of them did, and I think it ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - kegill - LibraryThingAt the time this was written, user centered design was hardly ever talked about much less factored into product design. A logical successor to The Mythical Man Month in many ways. Cannot speak to its relevance in 2015, but I'm guessing it's an evergreen book. Read full review
Contents
Cognitive Friction | 19 |
It Costs You Big Time | 39 |
Wasting Money | 41 |
Copyright | |
12 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Why High-tech Products Drive Us Crazy and how to Restore the Sanity Alan Cooper No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
ability achieve actually become begin behavior better build button Chapter clear client communicate completely cost create dancing demands desirable detail difficult document don't easily easy effective effort engineers example existing expensive experience failed feel force friction functions give goals hand hard high-tech human important industry interaction design interest interface look managers means method Microsoft movie nature never perform personas Polite powerful practical precision problem programmers reason responsibility screen simple software-based products solution solve specific success tasks technical tell testing things tion trained true trying turn typically understand visual Windows write
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Inmates are Running the Asylum |
| Author | Alan Cooper |
| Contributor | Alan Cooper |
| Edition | illustrated |
| Publisher | Sams, 1999 |
| ISBN | 0672316498, 9780672316494 |
| Length | 261 pages |
| Subjects | › › › Computers / Hardware / Personal Computers / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |