Every day at work, I deal with someone else's bad software choice in some situation or another. And I don't really understand it. I respect the people who choose much of our software. But they make some very interesting decisions about software. Is it that people don't know what software should be like? Is it just that we move from really mediocre software to less mediocare software? I don't know. But I still have to deal with it. And it frustrates me. (I think it frustrates other people, too.)
So, let's look at one of our newest Web sites, alumni.grinnell.edu. It replaces forum.grinnell.edu, which replaced loggia.grinnell.edu. (Yes, I also find it strange that we feel we have to regularly upgrade our alumni site, and hire a different vendor to build it from scratch.) I love my colleagues in Development and Alumni Relations. I've served on committees with their lead tech person, and their lead tech person is smart and thoughtful.
But then there's alumni.grinnell.edu. What's wrong with it? Almost everything, from the design to the software logic and beyond.
Hmmm ... maybe this essay is a bad idea.