“More people will pay you money to help them achieve a monetary goal than will pay you to give them something pretty to look at.”
Web Teacher
In recent posts we’ve explored OSS user interfaces and simpler interfaces in particular. But a pretty interface is only useful if helps a prospective client achieve a monetary goal (or avoid a monetary penalty).
Billions of dollars have been spent on OSS on the assumption that behemoth projects would deliver a monetary goal. In practice, the benefits of OSS are often so intangible that unless you work in OSS (many project sponsors don’t) then you’re going to find it difficult to quantify the monetary benefit, whether the interface is pretty or not. Even worse, if an OSS requires such specialised training / skills to use (most do), then the number of people who can spruik the benefits is also limited. If an OSS project sponsor can’t understand or use the end solution, but has endured all the challenges of a major project, do you think they’re going to want to invest heavily in OSS again in the future?
So, it is incumbent upon all of us in OSS to seek to:
– make our interfaces elegant, intuitive and comprehensive enough to let as many people as possible derive benefits (tangible or not)
– include metrics / reports that make it clear to all stakeholders what value is being created, ideally against an objective that is easily measured, such as monetary goals.
The outcomes we deliver are amazing, but they’ve been hidden away to too few and have remained too intangible for too long.
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Here at Passionate About OSS, we are exactly that – Passionate About OSS (Operational Support Systems). We’re also passionate about BSS, NMS, or any other names you call the tools that help to operationalise your network.
