Design by committee

November 9, 2009

One of the most obvious flaws in a finished product is the tell-tale signs that it was designed by a committee. This isn’t just restricted to physical products either: advertising campaigns, policies, events, movies and software are all subject to the terrifying mediocrity that arises when everyone has a voice.

The case in point at the moment is the new OpenOffice mouse. This thing is a monstrosity that has clearly tried to incorporate the good ideas and intentions of everyone who walked past during the design stage. 18 buttons? Check. Analog joystick? Check. Flash memory? Check. Adjustable resolution? Check.

Unfortunately, they also included the ideas from the guy that was frozen since 1994, hence the aesthetics and the cord. To wrap it all up, the finance guy’s suggestion was also included: the price is a hefty US$74.99.

The new OpenOffice mouse

I like my peripherals as much as the next guy (I use the Logitech MX Revolution at home and work myself), but the OpenOffice contraption looks to be an unwieldy and unmanageable piece of equipment with far too many functions for any of them to be useful. It’s the Crust pizza equivalent of a mouse – sometimes too many options and ‘features’ is a bad thing.

I’ll wait to hear more reviews to see if I am proven wrong (the reviews link on the official website currently goes nowhere) and I’d love to give it a shot it I get the chance, but until then, I’m chalking this one up as a good example of why you need a product manager with a strong point of view and the ability to say no.

Posted in Tech