Comments on: One thing that sucked about the last DemoCamp…

By: Mitch Brisebois

Mitch Brisebois — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:25:47 +0000

Great point Martin! Got me thinking about a retro-democamp featuring LinkedIn, thefacebook, and Google… What would we offer as helpful advice seeing these screenshots??

http://sensorymetrics.com/2009/10/28/the-reid-hoffman-principle-for-startups-dont-be-embarrassed/

By: SensoryMetrics » The Reid Hoffman Principle for Startups: Don’t be embarrassed

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:49:00 +0000

[...] DemoCamp friend Martin Dufour of Tungle reminds us of the Reid Hoffman principle: if you aren’t [...]

By: Martin Dufort

Martin Dufort — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:42:43 +0000

This tweet summarizes the jist of why people should present at DemoCamp even if the UI is not perfect…

http://twitter.com/ECMathews/status/5233658685

By: abc@abc.com

abc@abc.com — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:17:21 +0000

I was there, the comment was: “Is this the finished UI? Because it looks pretty crappy.” “pretty crappy” were the exact words. I thought it was rude and the presenter handled the comment well with a jovial “we’re just a couple of physicists” and thanked him for the feedback, that they were looking for help. The fellow followed up with an “I like the idea but the UI needs a lot of work”.

This was the first demo camp I attended. I was very disappointed by the sloooow pace. It was very late getting started, the first two demos ran very very long with very little content and problematic demos. Then the MC announced a half-hour break. My thought was, break? we just got started! After fifteen more minutes, I left. Too bad too because I was curious to see a couple of the other demos, but there was no way I was sticking around for 2 more hours of that.

By: Gisele

Gisele — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:18:31 +0000

I was there last night too (attending democamp for the first time) and was sat almost directly behind the guy who made this comment. I think it took alot of people by surprise even though it was delivered with a vaguely jocular tone and he tried to salve it over by adding that the app was actually a great idea. I guess [constructive] criticism is to be expected at a demo but tone and delivery is everything.

By: SensoryMetrics » UNusability and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat UI

SensoryMetrics » UNusability and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat UI — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:31:53 +0000

[...] a local DemoCamp last Monday, a presenter got rudely questioned on her “crappy UI”. In fact the UI was well designed from a functional perspective. It wasn’t all [...]

By: Marquis Côté

Marquis Côté — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:22:30 +0000

Being there, it certainly was unexpected. I’m guessing it was a slip of the tongue on his part. There are certainly other ways in “asking” if the UI will be revisited. DemoCamp is what we make it, I’m all for criticizing with respect. – Peace

By: Scott hardy

Scott hardy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:11:07 +0000

This was not cool

never insult at democamp, never ever

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:10:03 +0000

I think it all comes down to expectations. What sets DemoCamp apart from a VC pitch is that presenters aren’t expected to have answers for all -or even most- questions about the product/business, and the product can be at any stage of development.

I think the design question was considered offside by a lot of people not because it was critical (constructive criticism should be allowed, I think), but because it implied that products presented at DemoCamp should be more fully evolved than they need to be for DemoCamp.

If the question had been something like, “Where do you think this needs to be in terms of graphic design in order to appeal to your target users?”, I don’t think anyone would have batted an eyelid, even though this is basically the same question, just asked with a different level of expectation.

By: Mitch Brisebois

Mitch Brisebois — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:25:00 +0000

Although I’ve been a “UI guy” for over 20 years, I still have a love-hate relationship with this discipline. The old adage – don’t judge a book by its cover” holds true. Too many people (particularly in this age of web 2.0 – ick) are wowed by sparkly graphics, yet don’t understand what true usability is. The individual commenting to Treena was not only rude, but also very shallow in his appreciation of design.

In fact, I thought that Betiding was very well designed from a functional standpoint. I’m sure the look will improve over time. What really counts, is whether people WANT and CAN use this product.

I applaud Treena for handling this rude wannabe designer with class. She also handled the connectivity issue with style and humour to keep the audience engaged. Kudos.