Peter Merholz on Alan Cooper

Peter Merholz's analysis of Alan Cooper's Interaction08 keynote is really interesting and valuable, particularly because it sounds like the academic-industry divide we often discuss in professional communication. My emphasis:

Alan makes a lot of good points in his talk (many of which we make at Adaptive Path, such as how thoughtful design allowed iPod and Palm to beat predecessors, the value of distinguishing between design engineering and production engineering, and the value of the Quick Win), but he lost me when he advocated ignoring the business folks because they simply won’t get it. Not just “don’t” get it, but “won’t” get it. He seems to think that business folks are wired in such a way that they can’t handle the post-industrial economy. He also believes that attempts to quantify business value of post-industrial work is a fool’s errand.

He basically told the audience what they want to hear, but not what they need to hear.

peterme.com :: Alan Cooper Told The Audience What They Wanted To Hear, Not What They Needed To Hear

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