There are times when actual, real, dyed-in-the-wool usability ebbs from what I do. It’s always a core value, a passion but at times, I like many others have seen its significance and relevance fade and usability bows down to other actual and real things like business needs and cold hard dosh. There have been a lot of times when although being really pissed off, I have shrugged and known deep down that hey it’s not perfect but it’s shoddily good enough. There have also been times when I would rather have eaten my own eyes than go along with totally shite usability design. Or to put it another way, I have felt extremely passionate about good design and also completely blase at times about average design.
So.. here’s a usability challenge for you. Not that you will accept it, but I am pissed off enough to at least try. By the way, you are disqualified from this challenge if you know the answer already… you have to, like me attempt to find it out.
The Challenge
I have an appointment at Newcastle Freeman hospital tomorrow at 11AM. The car is playing up (dodgy battery maybe?). I could go on the train. I know there’s a Metro link from Newcastle station to a stop near the hospital.
The challenge is this. What time would I have to get on a train in York to make the appointment. I’m not expecting an answer just hoping that someone will share this pain… go on humour me… you will spend a few minutes walking amongst wonderful usability horrors such as…
- The GNER site (sucks) doesn’t let me enter what time I’d like to arrive somewhere only what time I would like to set off. Assuming I have no idea how long the journey is how am I supposed to guess.
- The Newcastle Freeman hospital seems focussed towards justifying it’s exitence, not actually getting there (unless travelling by car)… and even then, the PDF of directions is hilarious…
- The Metro site is laughable…
As I’ve said… at times, when I’m wearing my jaded usability jeans I assume that “we are nearly there” somehow… and squeezing the last 5% out of the usability stone really isn’t worth the effort… but then, this really sodding simple task of getting from somewhere to somewhere else really brings home how much work there really still is to do… Lots and lots of hard work.
The reason why the experience struck home so hard was that often, we find ourselves piecing sites and services together to collate the information we want, and in this case, GNER, Newcastle Freeman and the Metro site are individually so spectacularly below average that the sum is a hole.
So… I really don’t expect you will attempt the challenge… or even try half-heartedly… or probably give a damn… but that’s not the point. If there is a point it’s that … oh bugger it… either you get the point or you don’t…
Try this… http://www.transportdirect.info
It says you need to leave at 0828, walk to the bus stop at Derwent School. Get a number 6 bus to Rougier Street. Walk to the station, and get the 0857 train. On arriving it Newcastle it advises getting a no 38 bus from Monument (Pilgrim St).
Shame it doesn’t do this concise summary though! Oh, and you need to put in the postcode for the hospital as it doesn’t find it in the database!
Thank you… thank you… I didn’t know that site existed… isn’t it fab… and again… thank you.