I just had a 2-hour battle with my boss about the site navigation on a project. I don’t know why I let myself care so much, but I do. The site is a scientific hub for research and such, and I swear this man thinks he represents every user. Basically, he wanted the only way to get to information to be by choosing yourself as a educator, student, researcher, or developer. I kept trying to make him realize that if people go there looking for a seminar, for instance, they need a navigation entrance that would allow them to browse all seminars not just those we’ve deemed relative to their “type”.

And it came up, again. Amazon.com. Everyone and their mother is like “Well, Amazon does it this way, we should, too, or if they can do it, we can do it.” No. No. No. Ignorant people think it’s all so easy. My boss tried comparing our site to Amazon, and it was just wrong. Amazon sells products, which have a basic consistency of display and pretty obvious classifications. Our site is fundamentally different.

I finally got him slightly over to my side. After 2 hours, it just wasn’t worth it. This man knows basic HTML. He’s never created a website, and yet he’s arguing with me about site usability. Argh, he drew pictures and said, “See, this is the most convenient path.” I said, “No, that’s your opinion. Not everyone browses sites like you.”

So that’s my rant for the day. This job will not end soon enough. I cannot work for ignorant people. But my CD’s arrived…starting the MMJ album…