The Dreaded Presentation
The Presentation of a project usually sucks. Why? Here are a few reasons I could think of.
Posted by 11/14/2005
The Dreaded Presentation
Today I went through a presentation of something I had been working on. I've been through quite a few presentations over the years. I don't know if everyone's experience is the same as mine but I've always thought of them as ordeals. To me they are never a good thing. I was trying to think about why.
Make an appointment with a genius
One problem I've noticed is the users of the new application invariably take on a hostile attitude. Maybe it's because you are asking for criticism, maybe it's because they had envisioned something else, maybe it's because you are presenting something that is going to solve all their problems so they are naturally skeptical. It seems even more than that though. It reminds me of making an appointment with a "genius" at the Apple store. Maybe you've had the pleasure of going to one of those stores. If not, let me explain; When you want technical assistance at the Apple store you have to "schedule an appointment with a genius" - that's what they actually call it - which to me is really irritating -and it can do nothing but give me a bad attitude. Maybe something similar is happening when the I.T. department has put together something and is presenting it.
Myself I get the same attitude when I.B.M. is presenting some software package they are trying to sell. I find I'm taking the same hostile stance. I'm not sure why that is. By it's nature programming centers on intelligence - The only skill required for programming is to be 'smart'. So maybe it's related to that.
"It's not Intuitive"
And there is always the elusive "it's not intuitive" - criticism - I think that can change on a given day, and so much of it is shaded by one's own personal experience. At every presentation someone is going to say that sentence. At least it's better than the word 'robust'. And 'enterprise' - those are words I have grown to hate hearing. 'Enterprise' is bandied about to give an application legitimacy - and 'robust' is used to describe an application that does more than 3 things.
Losing touch with Reality
One thing I try to remember though, as a programmer you tend to live off in a cave somewhere for a while - and then come out with a product and you forgot that, by that time, you've lost all touch with reality. On the other hand, sometimes a group of people trying to nitpick an application, or trying to guess how intuitive it is after they already know how to use it, are themselves beginning to lose touch with reality. In state government something that happens over and over again is people are so lost in their bureaucratic knowledge that they don't see how ridiculous things seem to the outside. They may point out one navigation point at not being intuitive, when in reality the entire concept behind the entire application is in bureaucratic neverland.
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