(Start Rant) The other day i get an email from a family friend (lets call him Bill) that triggered the following email thread ;


Bill: “can you recommend a contact mgr, where i can add/store/sort my contacts alphabeticaly”

Me: “sign up for a gmail account and use the built in mgr, if your in the mood to try something a bit more advanced check out something called highrise from 37signals - but it will prob be an overkill for what you want/need”

Bill: “nah, not looking for web-based solution - need my contacts contained on my hard drive & my hard drive only”

Me: “oh, not sure why i assumed you were looking for a web-based solution - im guessing your running windows xp - you should have a program called “outlook express” - it has a contact mgr, try that.

Bill: “I have “Windows Contacts” … but it doesn’t seem to alphabetize the names of the contacts I input.”


 At this point im like, holy crap - the people who designed the user interface for windows contacts should be taken out back and shot (just kidding)… But seriously, who uses a product like “windows contacts”, not power users like you and I - but our parents, our grandparents and other newbies… And when one of these people cant figure out how to something simple like sorting a contact list(?!?!?!) it spells “FAIL” for the people building the product and specifically the user interaction designers.

Now keep in mind, i do not have “windows contacts” on any of the 4 pc/laptops i have running xp pro. It might have come preloaded on the one machine i have running vista (a laptop) - but i have never launched the program if it is there. So for all i know sorting is clearly labeled and super easy to use - and its just something specific to the user i happen to use as my entire case study (i know, pretty pathetic…) But seriously, if this guy cant figure out how to sort his contact list - in the latest version of your operating system and contact manager, then something must be broken.. pls fix!!!

while writing this post, the new Microsoft commercials popped into my head - you know, the ones with the 4 year olds taking pictures, saving the pics and then emailing them… and i thought; are you kidding me!!! a 4 yr old can use windows photo gallery - but for windows contacts you need to be a power user :)

here is the MS commercial for your amusement…


(End Rant)