Brock, you wrote:
"If CAD software is difficult to use, perhaps you need different people
designing it."
Amen to that, I've been saying this for years, Catia for example is very
powerful but not always user-friendly with some of its functions. Instead
of being "user-vicious" CAD software needs to become much more intuitive
(and this doesn't necessarily mean more undecipherable little icons and
message boxes!!!), sort of like assembling a Lego model or an Erector set
model only in a virtual 3D space. Of course what might be "intuitive" for
one person could be mass confusion for another and this is the crux of the
problem: How do you design software that can be easily used by a majority of
users? By utilizing plenty of user feedback from many different industries,
not just one, and by making the software easily customizable for individual
user preferences. One major problem (in my opinion) is that the larger
software companies like Dassault do not listen closely enough to the REAL
users of the software. They listen to MIS managers and employees but these
are NOT the daily users of the software that have to live with the
inadequate interfaces and functions day after day. Catia is real famous for
its error and "abend" messages which usually give the user no real clue what
the actual problem is (and the "help" file is absolutely worthless). The
MIS managers and employees are mostly concerned with file administration and
troubleshooting individual problems as they crop up. When "buried" problems
are finally detected by the users in day-to-day usage, it's usually too late
in the release cycle and then you have to wait a year or so for the next
version to clear up the problem (or at least until your company decides to
implement the next release which could be several releases later!!). I
think that some software companies are much more concerned with collecting
their licensing fees than in listening to their core users. This loss of
customer focus will eventually catch up with them when the competition
starts providing what the customer wants in a timely manner and at more
reasonable prices.
Regards,
Glenn Whiteside
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