Jef Raskin Quotes

The following quotes were taken from a usability workshop hosted by usability guru Jef Raskin in Toronto, Canada on May 14, 2001.

The workshop covered topics from his book, The Humane Interface, in which he argues that we need to rethink the design of computer interfaces at their most basic level. We can only begin to create humane interfaces when we have placed the users needs and limitations at the foundation of the design process.

The quotes below are teasers to give you a better sense of Jef's message in his own words.

"An interface is humane if it is responsive to the human needs and considerate of human frailties." (The Humane Interface pg. 6)

"As a grad student, I stopped asking 'How to make this algorithm more efficient?' to 'What is this supposed to do?'"

"You should never have a human factors person on a project -- they should always be the leader of the project."

"Many interfaces look pretty, but they fall down."

"[Personal computer] booting is not fast enough to ignore and now slow enough to make a cup of coffee... It is technically possible to boot a computer in under 10 seconds. Why has no one done this? More importantly, why has no one studied this?"

"Efficiency is not the only quality to an interface. It is one quality."

"The most efficient interface is not necessarily the best interface."

"A computer shall not destroy a user's work, or through inaction allow a user's work to come to harm." [Analogue of Issac Asminov's Law of Robotics]

"What people think they are doing, is not what they actually are doing."

"As humans we are very relucant to throw anything away. Very often it pays to have the machine do extra work. If you are kind and gentle to the machine, you are hostile to the user."

"The ideal interface is one that can be operated entirely by habit."

"The instinct [in interface design] is to use too few words."

"The biggest mistake I've made is the one button mouse... It never occured to me to label the two mouse buttons [to avoid confusion between the meaning of each button]."

"Every computer should have an undo button."

"There are no interface tools (of which I'm aware) that allow you to build a good interface."

"Voice interface is the biggest red herring... what I'm talking about are interface concepts that apply to all types of interfaces."

"There is no such thing as an 'expert user'. Each user is an expert in the domain of a certain function."

"Just because we don't have systems that are easy to learn and fast to use, doesn't mean that it isn't possible."

As you might have sensed from the above quotes, Jef Raskin has some very strong beliefs, but what's refreshing is that they are based on careful study and thought.

I highly recommend The Humane Interface for anyone with an interest in interface design. I think it is destined to become a classic, along with Alan Cooper's About Face, Donald Norman's Design of Everyday Things and Jakob Nielson's Usability Engineering.