This isn’t directly complaining about Australis, but sort-of related.

However, this is one of the most insightful comments I’ve ever read about the tragedy of modern UI and UX design.

Interface utility is a nuanced concept. The average person barely realizes this concept exists and yet they are allowed to collectively OK design decisions via market study. Developers have faith in these studies based on the flawed premise that the members of the study…

• represent their users on average
• will understand and report on the interface utility

Not only are these both false, the average person will primarily report on with whether an interface is visually appealing or not.

It’s really worth reading the rest of it. This is what I was alluding to in my claim that developers do not understand data analysis and even what they should be analyzing.

I don’t exactly excuse Jeremy Clarkson for this, but I can understand.

You see, I grew up in the rural, (very, very) racist South. Most people don’t know this, but the common nursery rhyme that begins with "eeny, meeny, miny, moe" in the South at least when I was a kid (and I am certain still does in many areas) always used the word “nigger” instead of “tiger.”

The first thousand (10,000?) times I heard it in my young life, that’s the only version I heard. I didn’t even know there was a version that used “tiger” until I was 11 or 12.

That sort of training – especially for something linguistic like that – is really hard to overcome if you learn it early enough. Even if you try get every racist thought out of your head.

I never, ever say any version of that nursery rhyme anywhere because I might slip and use a word I don’t want to use, because I know how easy it is to do if you’ve heard a phrase used a certain way thousands of times.

Again, I am not excusing Clarkson. I think there should be some sort of consequences for doing something like that.

But I can still see how that could have happened to me easily enough.

When you grow up in a racist place, all that shit just doesn’t disappear by magic. You have to work at it.

I think I am going to stop complaining about Australis now, as the devs believe they have data on their side, not really understanding much about data analysis, how early adopters/power users drive the adoption of new technologies, or the fact that even if only 10% of your users make use of one feature, it’s not the same 10% for each discrete feature.

The devs are righteous in their incorrect beliefs and shoddy data analysis (and understanding of what they should be analyzing), and are now so committed that they can’t change their mind.

Saying anything else about it, like politics or voting, is pointless.

This is one guy that I hate.

I usually don’t call out people like this individually, but he is one arrogant prick making the world worse in his own small way, much like larger players like Obama and the power structure he represents.

The world really is bifurcating between those who will have the ability to powerfully process information and those who won’t.

Google Chrome is now blocked from accessing this site.

If you are smart enough to change your user agent string and read the site anyway, then you are smart enough not to use Chrome.

If I cared about readership that much, I obviously wouldn’t do this. I probably wouldn’t write this site if absolutely no one read it, but I’d rather not have Chrome users on the site.

I would say that I am sorry, but I am not.