Don't Get Me Started
David Platt
When Microsoft ignores its own UI design guidelines in Windows 8, it can only sow confusion.
May
2013
David Platt
One of the delights of writing this column is that I get to see lots of new things. Sometimes their creators forget to name them, so I get to do it.
April
2013
David Platt
David Platt says your software isn’t successful until it’s been used in a way that you never imagined.
March
2013
David Platt
The Internet still hasn't cracked the health-care industry, the way it has newspapers, media and most recently higher education. But it's about to, says David Platt, and in a big way.
February
2013
David Platt
A year ago, David Platt predicted that universities would get hammered by Internet-based alternatives. Looks like he was right.
January
2013
Remember Cardfile? With Windows 8, Microsoft is telling app developers to stay away from tired meatspace analogies in their UIs.
December
2012
David Platt
Every great advance in application design tools heralds a wave of execrable design. David Platt urges software developers to show judgment and restraint with their new WIndows Store apps.
November
2012
David Platt
Have you ever wondered what grinds David Platt's gears?
October
2012
David Platt
Doctors swear to the Hippocratic oath. Should software engineers be pledging to uphold a code of conduct?
September
2012
David Platt
It's hard to create an effective user experience when your users struggle to tell you what they need. David Platt says good designers know how to gain actionable insight from their users.
July
2012
David Platt
Until and unless Microsoft brings out another tool that does these things, Visual Basic 6 will keep scuttling around.
June
2012
David Platt
Are your applications posing impossible questions to users? David Platt says too many developers are just protecting their own backsides when prompting users to make decisions they can't possibly understand.
May
2012
David Platt
David Platt channels his inner muse, and gives new meaning to the phrase poetic license, as he surveys the verse of software and science.
April
2012
David Platt
Touch is excellent for selecting among alternatives presented on-screen, but it's not the best solution in many cases.
March
2012
David Platt
MSDN Magazine's "resident curmudgeon" looks at our obsession with smartphones, and how they draw us together even as they push us apart.
February
2012
David Platt
The Internet is set to hammer the higher education industry in the same way it hammered the newspaper industry. I hope that my industry will respond to this challenge with creativity and imagination that will make the world a better place. I expect to find the landscape radically different when my daughters start college, 9 years from now.
January
2012
David Platt
Steve Jobs died on October 5, and the tributes resounded through the universe. Far less noted was the passing of Dennis Ritchie on October 8. He deserves more recognition than he’s gotten, because Jobs couldn’t have accomplished anywhere near what he did without Ritchie’s work.
December
2011
David Platt
David Platt says the Microsoft BUILD Conference revealed something he has not seen for a long, long time: Real excitement around Microsoft's platform strategy.
November
2011
David Platt
The finals of the 2011 Imagine Cup software competition drew 128 teams from across the globe to New York City. David Platt found that the innovative entries weren't the only amazing thing about the event
October
2011
David Platt
The user experience is determined by your development skills, and not how pretty your UI is.
September
2011
David Platt
The default settings can make or break your program. Treat them with respect.
August
2011
David Platt
It’s usually the fault of the developer -- rather than the end user -- when security isn’t applied.
July
2011
David Platt
Microsoft, for all the things it does right, still thinks like a PC company. For it to survive, that needs to change.
June
2011
David Platt
Digital Equipment Corporation was an industry pioneer. Its eventual demise doesn’t change that fact.
May
2011
David Platt
Do you plan for all contingencies when building your program—including cat butts?
April
2011
David Platt
It’s time to start licensing PowerPoint users until they learn the true point of the program.
March
2011
David Platt
As in medicine, certain events in software development should never happen. Not ever.
February
2011
David Platt
David Platt comes up with his own lyrics depicting the seasons of a developer.
January
2011
David Platt
Want to build a Windows Phone 7 app that sells? Forget cool; remember useful.
December
2010
David Platt
At a minimum, UI design shouldn’t cause physical pain to readers and users.
November
2010
David Platt
Instead of being at odds, developers and designers should work together from the beginning. Better software will result.
October
2010
David Platt
Euphemisms are the refuge of cowards.
September
2010
David Platt
It’s a fact that men and women don’t think alike—remember this when designing software for the half of users that aren’t like you.
August
2010
David Platt
Standards for Windows Presentation Foundation and Microsoft Silverlight aren’t the enemy; in fact, they should be your starting point.
July
2010
David Platt
It’s time to standardize the UI for Windows Presentation Foundation.
June
2010
David Platt
Programmers will never develop great software until they learn that it’s not about themselves.
May
2010
David Platt
Making things easier for the end user isn't "dumbing down" -- it's smart design.
April
2010
David Platt
Developers should focus their time and effort on the 99 normal use cases, rather than the one unusual use case that often gets way too much attention.
March
2010
David Platt
People aren't computers; keep this in mind when developing software. When developers confuse people and computers, bad things happen.
February
2010