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The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity (2nd Edition) 2nd Edition, Kindle Edition

by Alan Cooper (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 306 ratings
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Imagine, at a terrifyingly aggressive rate, everything you regularly use is being equipped with computer technology. Think about your phone, cameras, cars-everything-being automated and programmed by people who in their rush to accept the many benefits of the silicon chip, have abdicated their responsibility to make these products easy to use. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum argues that the business executives who make the decisions to develop these products are not the ones in control of the technology used to create them. Insightful and entertaining, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum uses the author's experiences in corporate America to illustrate how talented people continuously design bad software-based products and why we need technology to work the way average people think. Somewhere out there is a happy medium that makes these types of products both user and bottom-line friendly; this book discusses why we need to quickly find that medium.

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  1. ISBN-13
    978-0672326141
  2. Edition
    2nd
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Sams Publishing
  5. Publication date
    24 Feb. 2004
  6. Language
    English
  7. File size
    2812 KB
  8. See all details
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Product description

Amazon Review

In this book about the darker side of technology's impact on our lives, Alan Cooper begins by explaining that unlike other devices throughout history, computers have a "meta function": an unwanted, unforeseen option that users may accidentally invoke with what they thought was a normal keystroke. Cooper details many of these meta functions to explain his central thesis: programmers need to seriously re-evaluate the many user-hostile concepts deeply embedded within the software development process.

Rather than provide users with a straightforward set of options, programmers often pile on the bells and whistles and ignore or de-prioritise lingering bugs. For the average user, increased functionality is a great burden, adding to the recurrent chorus that plays: "computers are hard, mysterious, unwieldy things." (An average user, Cooper asserts, who doesn't think that way or who has memorised all the esoteric commands and now lords it over others, has simply been desensitised by too many years of badly designed software.)

Cooper's writing style is often overblown, with a pantheon of cutesy terminology (i.e. "dancing bearware") and insider back-patting. (When presenting software to Bill Gates, he reports that Gates replied: "How did you do that?" to which he writes: "I love stumping Bill!") More seriously, he is also unable to see beyond software development's importance--a sin he accuses programmers of throughout the book.

Even with that in mind, the central questions Cooper asks are too important to ignore: Are we making users happier? Are we improving the process by which they get work done? Are we making their work hours more effective? Cooper looks to programmers, business managers and what he calls "interaction designers" to question current assumptions and mindsets. Plainly, he asserts that the goal of computer usage should be "not to make anyone feel stupid." Our distance from that goal reinforces the need to rethink entrenched priorities in software planning. -- Jennifer Buckendorff, Amazon.com

From the Back Cover

Imagine, at a terrifyingly aggressive rate, everything you regularly use is being equipped with computer technology. Think about your phone, cameras, cars-everything-being automated and programmed by people who in their rush to accept the many benefits of the silicon chip, have abdicated their responsibility to make these products easy to use. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum argues that the business executives who make the decisions to develop these products are not the ones in control of the technology used to create them. Insightful and entertaining, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum uses the author's experiences in corporate America to illustrate how talented people continuously design bad software-based products and why we need technology to work the way average people think. Somewhere out there is a happy medium that makes these types of products both user and bottom-line friendly; this book discusses why we need to quickly find that medium.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000OZ0N62
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sams Publishing; 2nd edition (24 Feb. 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2812 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Up to 5 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 283 pages
  • Customer reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 306 ratings

About the author

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Alan Cooper

Alan Cooper

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For over 30 years, Alan Cooper has been a pioneer of the modern computing era. His groundbreaking work in software design and construction has influenced a generation of programmers and business people alike and helped a generation of users embrace interaction design. He is best known as the "Father of Visual Basic" and is the founder of Cooper, a leading interaction design consultancy.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
306 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

M. Mallia
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2010
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In this book Alan Cooper efficiently illustrates the accurate point that users don't often know what they want when designing a system.

If you are involved in designing systems in any way or are simply interested in the concept, this book is a must have read!

This product is not just an interesting book, it is also a very useful tool.
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Kat
5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2018
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I love this book, I think everyone doing anything do to with digital products should read it, very funny too, but so true!
2 people found this helpful
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James Christie
4.0 out of 5 stars Important lessons for software engineers
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 February 2007
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This is a highly readable and entertaining rant directed against the inadequate development practices of software engineers over the years.

I am one of the geeks that Cooper targets, but I think I'm sufficiently self aware to know that his point is entirely justified. Building workable, usable applications on time and on budget is a fiendishly difficult problem. Pretty well all of the effort in improving our working practices has focussed on getting our job done more efficiently and predictably so that customers get their applications in reasonable time and at a reasonable cost. We've always been pretty clueless about the human side, making sure that the applications can be used easily and efficiently. That, of course, has great practical and financial consequences, but the cost is often hidden from the developers who have moved on to screw up elsewhere.

Cooper sometimes overdoes his argument, and minimises the real, practical problems involved in applying his techniques. His insistence on calling all developers as "programmers" is a bit irritating, but I can accept that as a stylistic quirk rather than evidence of ignorance of software engineering.

I'd strongly recommend this to software developers who are starting to have doubts about whether they're really delivering what users need. Of course, the ones who have no doubts are the ones who really need to read this book, but I suspect they wouldn't even pick it up, and they's throw it aside after the first few pages if they did give it a go. Pity.
One person found this helpful
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SP
5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener for any software developer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 December 2012
A great book. Must have for any software developer who cares about their software doing the right thing.
The book talks about simplest things and mistakes that we make and how to overcome them so as to achieve a usable software.
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Mr. N. Foale
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful tirade against software design complacency
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 March 2010
Weighs in against the shoddy software designed and written by geeks/geek-wannabees - and the acceptance of this by everyone else. The author urges that software can be made fundamentally better. He gives examples of bad designs, problems caused, and obvious (when we are told them) solutions.

Its an enjoyable polemic and I heartily agreed with most of it. However there is an alternative case for good-enough software. The book does not recognise this and some of its arguments are overly perfectionist. That said, this book is a well-intentioned, fun, and positive read. We need more I.T. practitioners to raise their heads above the pulpit. Any attempt to un-knit software's problems should be welcomed.

Main points:

1. Design for an idealised user, rather than trying to be all things to all men.

2. Design so as not to make anyone feel stupid.

3. Focus on clarity/unity of design rather than hordes of functions.

N.B. Professionals might read this followed by Cooper's  About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design  (for the nitty gritty).

P.S. For a more pragmatic read try  Don't Make Me Think!: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability .
One person found this helpful
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H. Kerrn
5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 October 2009
Developing software and solutions myself for more than 20 years this book certainly woke me up and gave me the insight and explanation on why so many users fail using the software and solutions we created over the time. We developers are so focused on technology and so much computer experts that we think everybody think and act as we do. I you want to create solutions that really work for the users read this book and continue with  About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design  to get the details. Then, to get hands on, use the book: Designing for the Digital Age: How to Create Human-centered Products and Services , to implement the methods into your development process.
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Tarjei T. Jensen
4.0 out of 5 stars It is not just about software development
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 April 2003
I found the book useful. Not because I agree with everything (I don't), but because it provides a useful tool to understand decision making in IT organizations.
He writes a lot about design, but the issue usually boils down to management and how it fails in IT-organizations. Those who reads this as just a receipe for how to designing software fails to grasp the point.
Yes, I agree that he beats his own drum a lot. However he still delivers the goods in an entertaining way.
3 people found this helpful
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christopher bradburn
2.0 out of 5 stars Damaged at full price
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 February 2023
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The media could not be loaded.
 I’m annoyed I paid full price for a damaged book.
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Top reviews from other countries

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V K HAMEED
5.0 out of 5 stars A really important read on the craft of software development
Reviewed in India on 21 January 2022
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This book emphasize on the importance of Interaction design while creating software. It was an eye opening read that really helped with giving more depth on the craft of designing systems.
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iAPX
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for Web designers, Developers, Product Owners, Project Managers and Managers!
Reviewed in Canada on 6 March 2016
Verified Purchase
As a professional developer since nearly 30 years, I have designed "Interfaces" (Interactions in fact) and built them. I was really proud of it.

This book show me how wrong I was, and even if my Interactions and Interface wasn't too catastrophic, they weren't as good as they needed to, and that I have to re-learn everything about Interaction Design, because sadly I usually work without Interaction Design team. So I have to learn, to take time (even spare-time if necessary) to design before coding, even if it will be still imperfect, it will always be better than coding first then trying to trick an already created interaction.
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Carlo Beschi
5.0 out of 5 stars the inmates are (still) running the asylum ...?
Reviewed in Italy on 18 October 2013
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Wow. First published in 2006. Waited way to long in my reading list ... A must read for almost all IT product development professionals - especially for engeneers, and their managers.
The design of the product, and of the way the user may interact with it, as something which MUST be given the proper attention, the right placement in the production lifecycle and which requires sincere domain experts (interaction designers).
Many companies are possibly in a far better situation than in 2006, regarding this topic - others are definitely not.
A great book, easy to read, full of irony, and seminal for new (in 2006) concepts and tools, such as the usage of personas.
One person found this helpful
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C. Rouge
5.0 out of 5 stars Lecture essentielle pour qui travaille dans la conception et le développement d'applis numériques
Reviewed in France on 20 October 2008
Verified Purchase
Voici un livre qui m'a immensemment soulagé, tant il confirmait les impressions que j'avais en travaillant avec des ingénieurs informatiques sur différents projets. Ce n'était donc pas que moi, pourtant très technophile, mais pas ingénieure pour autant!

Résumé:

Les applis informatiques sont à présent partout: depuis nos radios réveil jusqu'aux systèmes de chauffage de nos maison, sans parler de nos environnements de bureau. Or, ces applis ne sont pas conçues AU SERVICE de l'utilisateur ( ou -trice) mais selon la vision de monde des informaticiens, qui elle meme dérive de la façon dont fonctionne un ordinateur. C'est à dire qu'elles demandent à l'utilisatrice de s'adapter au language machine plutot que d'adapter le language machine à l'utilisateur..
Petit souci, qui explique le blocage que beaucoup font face à l'informatique.

L'auteur analyse la façon dont sont développées ces applis pour expliquer pourquoi l'on constate ceci aujourd'hui. Il montre enfin comment développer des applis au service de l'utilisateur final et non des développeurs informatique.

Quelques points:

L'ordinateur pense comme une machine, de façon précise et méthodique. L''etre humain pense de façon vague, par généralités, et de façon plus intuitive que méthodique.
Les informaticiens développent en calquant la façon de faire de la machine plutot que de partir de la façon de fonctionner de l'utilisatrice finale.

Il fait la distinction entre l'homo sapiens, l'individu de base, et l'homo logicus, l'informaticien.
L'un adore se simplifier la vie, l'autre adore décortiquer la complexité plus que de se simplifier la vie. Il est plus intéressé par le process intellectuel que par le résultat final censé apporter un bien à l'utilisatrice.

Lisez le, c'est très instructif et essentiel pour développer des bonnes applications pour tous, pas uniquement pour les ' fans de technos '!

San Francisco Consulting
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Maxim Masiutin
5.0 out of 5 stars How To Restore The Sanity
Reviewed in the United States on 30 January 2005
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The high-tech industry has inadvertently put programmers and engineers in charge, so their hard-to-use engineering culture dominates. In our rush to accept the many benefits of the silicon chip, we have abdicated our responsibilities. We have let the inmates run the asylum. When the inmates run the asylum, it is hard for them to see clearly the nature of the problems that bedevil them. When you look in the mirror, it is all too easy to single out your best features and overlook the warts. When the creators of the software-based products examine their handiwork, they overlook how bad it is. Instead they see its awesome power and flexibility. Programming is such a difficult and absorbing task, that it dominates all other considerations, including the concerns of the users. Programmers aren't evil. They work hard to make their software easy to use. Unfortunately, their frame of reference is themselves, so they only make it easy to use for other software engineers, not for normal human beings. Why high tech products drive us crazy and how to restore the sanity? This is what this book is about.

Because it is far cheaper for manufacturers to use computers to control the internal functioning of devices than it is to use older, mechanical methods, it is economically inevitable that computers will insinuate themselves into every product and service in our lives. This means that the behaviour of all of our products will soon be the same as most obnoxious computers, unless we try something different. The incredible power of computers means that few people can afford to ignore them. Even if you don't have a desktop computer, you probably own a VCR and an ATM card, which are software-based products. It is unrealistic to simply say you "won't use computers". They aren't just getting cheaper; they are getting ridiculously cheaper, to the point of ubiquity and disposability. Many familiar products that we imagine as mechanical (or electronic) are no longer made without computers. Cars, washing machines, televisions, vacuum cleaners, thermostats and elevators are all good examples.

This book is written with humour, liveliness, and amusement, it has a lot of funny illustrations. Yet it reveals the problems of software industry which were left attention for decades. One of the problem is "elastic user", such a user which must bend and stretch and adapt to the needs of the moment. When a company speaks about the software it develops, every party involved (management, programmers, testers, sales) include different meaning into the word "user". In "Goal-Directed design", the participants never refer to "the user". Instead, they refer to a very specific individual: "a persona". To create a product that must satisfy a broad audience of users, logic will tell you to make it as broad in its functionality as possible to accommodate the most people. Logic is wrong. You will have far greater success by designing for one single person. Imagine that you were designing an automobile to please a wide spectrum of people. You could easily identify at least three subgroups: the soccer mom, the carpenter, and the junior executive. Mom wants a safe, stable vehicle with lots of space and big doors for hauling the kids, dogs, groceries and other stuff. The carpenter wants a rugged vehicle with all-wheel drive and abundant room for ladders, lumber, bags of cement, and tools. The young executive wants a sporty car with a powerful engine, stiff suspension, convertible top and only enough room for too. If we make such a combination vehicle, what a goofy, impossible car will appear! Making three different products in software is lot easier than making them in steel, too. Another problem which the author points to is "the customer-driven death spiral", where "conceptual integrity" is the only solution.

The author declares that the key to solving the problems is interaction design, and exposes the Goal-Directed design method that provides manufacturers of high tech products with an insightful understanding of their users and a practical blueprint for a superior result. Alan Cooper, the author of the book, and his company, have designed a wide range of products ranging from clean, simple kiosk systems to complex scientific applications, controls for consumer-oriented computer peripherals, conceptual designs for entire product lines, eCommerce sites. The list of companies that adopted the Goal-Directed design includes many industry leaders, large and small, such as 3M, Proctor & Gamble, Dolby Labs, Fujitsu, HP, Informatica, Logitech, SAP, Charles Schwab, St. Jude Medical, and Varian. The description of Goal-Directed design in this book is very reader-friendly and is targeted to the broad audience. Alan Cooper gives the further explanation of this method in his following book "About Face 2.0", aimed mostly to the engineers. Although these two books are still not enough to deploy this method in your organisation, they show how vital this technique is for a successful product.
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