tell me a story....

I am aware that we live in a world full of differences. Race, Religion, Temperaments, Opportunities. All of these seperate us from each other and create this huge dichotomy that we call the world.

But one thing pervades us all - the desire to succeed. One of the things each of us need to succeed are the right tools. My job is to help people make better tools. Yes, I am an IT consultant. Shock horror.

During my many tours of duty, I have come across many many illogical and terrible solutions that are so utterly devoid of any common sense. But smart people pervade these projects. So then, why the complete lack of common sense?

Lets take, for example, usability of screens. It is one of my passions, and also, sadly, one of the last things most organisations consider when designing a system. They talk about user-centric design, construct data models, use cases and all manner of documentation, but often leave out screen designs, layout and usability. In many cases, if they are designed, but there is no story behind them. Where is the narrative people?!?!

So, an explanation. Firstly, I was reading the following:
http://www.erasmatazz.com/library/Mind/Narrative_Thinking.html

And then I read this:
http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/telling_stories/narrative_thinking.htm

And now, I am reading this:
http://www.leeroybeach.com/id5.html

All of the above talk about how people percieve, organise and reuse information. The Narrative, as it turns out, is a highly effective and evolved way of communicating ideas and indeed convincing people.

Every process should be a narrative. Take the user through a story. Every screen should be carefully constructed plot point, if you will. Each plot point should in turn have clear details and highlight any important information. The payoff of the story should also be clear to the user. No one does anything without an expectation of a result, so give it to them. Satisfy the user.

No matter how different we are, following a narrative is just common sense.

In the beginning

Let there be light.
Let there be man...
Let man have common sense...
Now let him throw it away at the first opportunity s0 that he can cause everyone around him blinding and unending pain.

A lot of things in life strikes me as common sense. Most of the laws that govern us can be explained by common sense. Or that is what I thought. But then what is common sense? Is it just the bleeding obvious? Or is it some serene wisdom that allows you to think outside the little bubble of your own existence? I think the answer is not so simple...

Also, I am tired of people saying "its common SENSE!", as if even a dead monkey would be able to have come to that conclusion. No, I prescribe to that old addage that common sense is not that common at all. I think it is highly subjective, and one that requires definition. Hence this blog.

So, I invite you to join me in my journey into the rare, elusive and bewildering word of Common Sense and how it can be applied in our world.

We will have some tangents, some rants, as well as some insights... but more than anything, there has to be a unifying, underlying rule to unite the chaos that is life. Common Sense.