The Usable Business

I'm passionate about helping people to be more productive at work (and therefore hopefully happier too). I'm one of those people who can't wait to share the latest widget or software application or productivity hint/tip when I come across one. However as seductive as those hints, tips and widgets are, I've found that after a while they just don't seem to make that much difference. What's needed is a framework or a system that helps us understand why certain tools or habits help make us more effective. Now, what could that be...hmmm....

Well....after my psychology degree, I took an MSc in Human-Computer Interaction. It provides a framework and a process for designing software that takes advantages of the strengths, and is forgiving of the 'weaknesses', of people. It offers many rewards:

• Increased productivity
• Reduced training/learning time
• Fewer mistakes
• Worker satisfaction

Now, after 15 years in the fields of interactive design and web-based learning, I have come to realise that the same lesson applies to the design of any human system, including business systems. It is possible (and desirable) to apply the lessons from the design of good, usable software to everyday business processes and reap the same rewards.

As I have explored this area, I now realise that a user-centred business design approach works because it maximises a very valuable resource: concentration. This blog is based on one simple idea:

The most valuable resource for Knowledge Workers is concentration. When you increase the ability of employees to concentrate, they work faster, make fewer mistakes, learn more effectively and are more satisfied.

I’m far from the first person to make this link. For example, the classic software book Peopleware demonstrated the tangible benefits that come when a programmer’s environment allows them to work without distraction. Other authors, e.g. Joel Spolsky, have highlighted the harm that arises from the constant task-switching that seems to be a feature of most modern workplaces.

This blog seeks to add to the list of methods available to make employees happy and productive by maximising their opportunities to concentrate. It shows how to take an organisation's (or person's) existing ways of working and maximise them by making small changes to take advantage of the way people naturally think and work. I think it might work as both a way of evaluating a company's current ways of working as well as a process/approach for making things better.

This blog is an attempt to organise my thoughts on this topic and see if they lead anywhere useful. It is the start of a journey, so apologies if at time it is a bit unstructured and maybe even a bit, um, rambling....It might also cut down on the amount of TV I watch and the time I spend on reddit.

This is also a call to arms. In the same way that we demand certain Health & Safety standards for our bodies, we should fight for the same rights for our minds. With countless work hours being lost to stress, unhappiness, lack of motivation and even depression, perhaps now is the time to acknowledge that our minds have limits just as surely as our bodies.

Stu