While I was watching the New England Patriots steamroll over the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday, there was a flurry and a twitter of posts, comments and twits about whether enterprise software should be “sexy.”
It all started with Robert Scoble of Scobleizer wondering why Enterprise software isn’t sexy.
Stephen Collins of acidlabs thinks Enterprise apps *can* and *should* be sexy.
Ross Mayfield thinks Enterprise Social Software doesn’t get you laid, it gets you promoted.
With a newborn in my house, sexy to me a two hour nap. So I certainly don’t find any software sexy. I want my software to be:
- reliable
- easy on the eyes
- useful
- personable.
Doug, I think your four criteria are pretty much exactly what I propose – a strongly user centered approach to interface design, no matter what it’s sitting on top of.
I think an app that fulfills each of reliable, easy on the eyes, useful and personable is very sexy. And even if it’s your HR or financials toolset, likely to be great for the end users.
After all, aren’t the end users who software is for? We shouldn’t marginalise them through bad interface design.