Will it pass - The Dad Test?
Will your software pass - "The Dad Test"?
This is a variation of many such similar popular sayings. However, we forget to ask this question all too often. We should add this to our release checklist.
The reason for this post is that for many online services, my Dad needs my help. He is quite competent with a computer but sometimes even I admit that the UI/UX for a particular banking service, for a particular government service is quite bad and hard to understand. Sometimes, I think how do others manage to use this and if every family need to have that "computer guy" to be able to bank online? What is important here is that I always say to him - "Well, I would not have designed it that way".
"I would not have designed it that way". Really? Well, how many times have I added a checkbox that was not really required? How many times have I added a dropdown because a user asked for it, not questioning if it is required? How many times have I added an incomprehensibly incoherent error message just to do away with a Task. How much of my software will pass the Dad Test?
And it is almost always the small things. Recently, I had to update some of my documents in an organization. I uploaded the document. Document uploaded successfully. I would like to download what I just uploaded to verify. This is my standard practice. Every system that I have encountered, even the bad ones, make sure that you can download what you just uploaded. This has become a habit for me. So, what is the problem? Well, the system does not let me download the documents that I just uploaded. In times like these I can almost hear my Dad’s scream of frustration in my ears. He is right. Software is a problem. (The system is a very popular system in organizations.)
However, software engineering is also a very new field. Give or take about 50 - 60 years old? Civil, mechanical, architecture have centuries worth of knowledge. Even Aviation is over a hundred years old now. So, it may take time. There are a lot of smart people working in software. It will get better. Maybe it is the culture, I don’t know. I have to think a bit more on this.
Anyways, for now I think we should add the "Will it pass the Dad test?" on to our checklists right alongside 80% unit test coverage. At the very least, spend a sprint or two on it.
This is not a new idea. "Make your software so easy to use that even (insert_family_member_ here) can use it."
But we forget.