Jacob Nielson Shames Apple!
Jacob Nielson has written a rebuttal to Apple’s study that proclaims that larger monitor sizes contribute to greater producitivity in the workplace. In his response Jacob makes some important points regarding productivity measurement.
First among them is that instead of measuring operations (like time it takes to copy and paste between excel cells) one should measure tasks like how long does it take to complete a budget. He also discusses that even measuring the productivity of a specific task is not enough because often that task maybe conducted rarely and therefore may not be a good “task sample.” He encourages testers to look at all the tasks on your intranet at once.
Jacob Nielson is controversial and always has been. However, I feel this particular article is important in how cuts through research created to sell larger monitors and emphasizes that for research to be of value it has be centered in task accomplishment by real people. Well done!
