building to spec when the spec is clueless

 

CJ at a Lessor Photographer noted this in his mailing list today

We Need New Specs

Speed shouldn’t just be measured in the 100ths of seconds it takes to expose an image, but in the time it takes to get your camera out and capture the moment.

Exposure shouldn’t just be measured in a histogram. It should be evaluated in the ease by which the image can be exposed to right people in the right way to maximize impact.

The design of a camera shouldn’t be evaluated on day one. The mark of a great design is a camera that looks better after years of hard use. A camera acquires hard use, because it hits a sweet spot for its user between constraint and utility (also a part of the design process).

We need new specs.

Good points, but but these metrics and others along the same line exist.  The issue is consumer electronics and technology companies are rarely staffed with people in relevant positions who are skilled in this way of "thinking different" and their organizations usually have internal mechanisms to immunize themselves against this way of thinking.  It is also true that in areas like photography the sophisticated user (proam?) is encouraged to think in outdated engineering-only terms.

You get to the point where you can sense this in a company by visiting a few engineering directors, product managers and staff members … the culture defines the capability of the product and also attempts to educate the user base and press