What Disney World, Five Man Electric Band, and Good Software Design Have in Common
by Scott on April 04, 2007
Post No Signs
It is very tempting to try to influence behavior by posting signs. On the surface it makes sense. If we want someone to do something, simply post a sign that says so. Yet on a recent family trip to Disney World, it struck me that Disney parks have very few signs posted. And for a park that size there are practically no “do not” signs.
Disney evidently knows the same things I do about about signs. First, people ignore them. People just do not take time to really read anything: including signs, error messages, or user manuals. Second: signs, especially “Do not..” signs, make any experience less enjoyable. The signs are not the experience, so by definition they only detract from it. Software developers can learn from this example.
Cut words from software
There are alternatives to extraneous signage. Let’s look at some signs you will not see at Disney parks, the alternatives, and how these alternatives relate to good software design.
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