I'm writing an application in my spare time that I hope to release soon, and I've been asking a few favours from friends to give me feedback. One such unfortunate soul is the internet's very own secretgeek. This is what my inbox looked like a few hours after sending Leon an email (on the week-end!!!) announcing my desire to get my application put through the wringer (with a little “fish-eye“ showing the type of feedback he adds to each image).
Now I'll be the first person to concede that my software isn't that great, but Leon takes feedback to the next level, hitting where it hurts* but leaving me walking away smiling because this is EXACTLY the kind of feedback I want to help me improve my application. This is the perfect antidote to “developer UI“, because after a while I've stop seeing the flaws, and stop feeling the clunkiness so keenly.
* Leon is immune from retaliation - not because his app timesnapper is so great [it is, sheesh why do you think Hanselman puts it in his ultimate tools list every-freakin'-year? because Leon's a NICE GUY???? ROFL], but for other reasons. It's the only software development shop where “cod” and “normal” aren't being used in this context.