http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bumpy-start-microsoft-rethinks-windows-061356804.html

QuoteIn a recent interview at Microsoft's headquarters, Tami Reller, the chief marketing officer and chief financial officer of the Windows division, revealed that Windows Blue will be released this calendar year and will include modifications that make the software easier to learn, especially for people running it on computers without touch screens.

"The learning curve is real and needs to be addressed," Ms. Reller said.

No shit.  I have never so frustrated using an operating system in a long time.  Frickin NetBSD is more intuitive than Windows 8. 

Usability studies pay for themselves 5 times over.  Microsoft has yet to learn this.

>Usability studies pay for themselves 5 times over.  Microsoft has yet to learn this.

Let me add a small contrary point.

Usability is important, so are studies. There is a great danger in taking those and making a site/app/software that addresses everybody's concerns. If you do that the danger is you have a system that works for "everybody", but not very well for your target customer.

An alternative is to say "this is what we do, this is how we do it" and nail 80% of your market, the other 20% can go elsewhere.

Any usability study we have ever done has always thrown up these "i like it" "i don't like it"  responses.

There is never a right answer, there is always one that is less wrong.

I think Win8 was pre-damned because of Vista.  I know that was the case for me.

QuoteThere is a great danger in taking those and making a site/app/software that addresses everybody's concerns.

Absolutely, I agree.  So a well-run study will find the stumbling blocks.  Stumbling blocks have nothing to do with "I like it" or "I don't like it,"  it has to do with "Can people make the damn thing work?"  Can they put something in the cart, and when they do, can they figure out how to give you their money to buy the item?

With Win OS8, it took me 10 minutes to find out how to find the damn "start" button and make it stay on the screen long enough for me to use it.  THAT is a stumbling block, especially considering that I am an advanced computer user. 

If your usability studies have just shown that "people like it"  or "not", you need to fire your usability company because clearly, they don't know what they are doing.

Since I purchased my 1st PC recently and it came with Windows 8, as a  MAC user I just clicked on $HIT until it got me somewhere. After that it's working fine.

I am considering this for a project I'm think of...
http://www.apple.com/macpro/
Fast MF
http://www.apple.com/macpro/features/processor.html

>If your usability studies have just shown that "people like it"  or "not", you need to fire your usability company because clearly, they don't know what they are doing.

That would be firing me!

Regardless, usability is not a committee thing, design to not offend the least amount of people isn't a strategy, it's a cop out.

My website/app/whatever, if you don't like it go somewhere else.

Having said that we just about to start a/b testing stuff, the beginning of the end

I never really understood all the fuss. I mean, start button is now the windows key & apps 'n crap = just ignore. The rest is just like 7, but faster.