CONTACTS 
0201 - Knecht, Haley, Lawrence & Smith    415 896 6930 fax 0818
020101 - Mr. Russ Bryson; Systems Administrator; Administration

SUBJECTS
KHLS SDS Trial, General, Evaluation
Formats and Screens
Remembering (linked records)
Line Numbers
Help & Menus
SDS Theory
Promise of POIMS v. Power of POIMS
Learning time/difficulty
User Interface, Menus, Mouse, Speech

1311 -    ..
1312 - Summary/Objective
1313 -
131301 - Russ offered suggestions for improving SDS; we explored alternatives
131302 - for continued evaluation.
131303 -
131304 -
131305 -
1314 -
1315 -
1316 - Scope of Evaluation
1317 -
131701 - This discussion revealed slightly different agendas with respect to
131702 - the SDS trial project.  Russ indicated his approach was to support the
131703 - Welch and UPR situation, where he would devote KHLS time to a focused
131704 - evaluation project.
131705 - ..
131706 - I explained my intent was not for KHLS to incur billable time
131707 - for evaluation, but rather to give KHLS a capability with sufficient
131708 - training and support (see discussion with Russ at ref SDS 3 3995) to
131709 - improve productivity in the manner explained to Anne at ref SDS 1
131710 - 4009, at no charge to the firm, in order to develop an installed base
131711 - of satisfied customers essential to provide credibility in a new
131712 - product and new technology, as set out in my discussion with Anne at
131713 - ref SDS 1 5884 and at ref SDS 1 6308.
131714 -
131715 -     Russ commented the present practice of using internal memos and
131716 -     discussion at KHLS is adequate, and cited the firm's success
131717 -     representing its clients.  This indicates KHLS does not see a
131718 -     sufficiently favorable cost/benefit ratio to try SDS, even if
131719 -     given the program and free training.  My intent was misdirected.
131720 -
131721 -        [See a few years later when KHLS broke up, ref SDS 7 4858.]
131722 -
131723 - Though SDS is not easy to learn, there will never be an "easy" way to
131724 - improve productivity by 100 fold, as SDS does, ref SDS 1 7385.  To get
131725 - significant improvement, requires automating and integrating a range
131726 - of business practices (per ref OF 1 2688) together with some
131727 - commitment and effort by the User.  At a minimum, Users have to
131728 - "invest" some "intellectual capital" in order to experience a reward
131729 - from SDS.  Productivity gains cannot be measured without making an
131730 - investment of knowledge and ideas, as reflected in this record.
131731 -
131732 - Since SDS provides new capability that is hard to grasp, I am willing
131733 - to help selected customers transition to automated integration of
131734 - their management practice, in order to gain market share, credibility
131735 - and information about how to improve the program, as explained to Anne
131736 - at ref SDS 1 5884.
131737 -
131738 -
131739 -  ..
1318 -
1319 -
1320 - Discussion
1321 -
132101 - Russ seemed genuinely excited by SDS capability.  He said that when he
132102 - watched me solve the hardware configuration problem the other day, by
132103 - getting a diary record from July 1992 in 1 second, ref SDS 4 line 220,
132104 - he saw a powerful new capability he had not considered possible. Russ
132105 - said that when he read the SDS liturature he was skeptical because you
132106 - cannot do this in any other program he has seen or read about.
132107 -
132108 -     Comment - Lotus Organizer
132109 -
132110 -     This is a clue about the viability of Lotus Organizer to improve
132111 -     management productivity, since Russ has been using it for a year
132112 -     or so, as we discussed at ref SDS 4 line 72.
132113 -
132114 -
132115 - He feels Users cannot relate to this new power until they actually see
132116 - it solve real problems, as he did.  Therefore, claims of improved
132117 - productivity lack credibility.  Customers then focus on cosmetics
132118 - (screen looks complex) rather than substance (SDS manages complexity).
132119 - If customers believed their productivity would be greatly increased,
132120 - then a few days training would be welcomed as an opportunity to im-
132121 - prove earning capacity by gaining valuable new skills.
132122 -
132123 - He speculated that SDS may be too advanced for the perceived needs of
132124 - most users and wondered if we might create something that was less
132125 - helpful, but easier to use, so people can get used to new function-
132126 - ality gradually?
132127 -
132128 -     We discussed the implications of products that offer inadequate
132129 -     tools, like Lotus Notes, CC Mail, Commence, Agenda, PackRat,
132130 -     Organizer, Echo, et al, which, cause people to believe management
132131 -     productivity cannot be meaningfully improved.  These products
132132 -     produce lots of information, but no knowledge and ideas, see
132133 -     "Knowledge Revolution" at ref SDS 2 line 204, defining the dis-
132134 -     tinction between "information" and "knowledge."
132135 -
132136 -     Better management requires a baseline, or "critical mass", of
132137 -     integrated features, as only SDS provides through POIMS tech-
132138 -     nology, ref OF 1 line 117.
132139 -
132140 -
132141 -
132142 - Russ suggests following changes in SDS program:
132143 -
132144 -     1.  Eliminate status line at bottom of screen.
132145 -
132146 -         He did not explain why column and line diagnostics are
132147 -         helpful in Wordperfect, but not in SDS.
132148 -
132149 -     2.  Keep menu on screen rather than pop it with mouse button.
132150 -
132151 -     3.  Let cursor scroll the screen up when it gets to the bottom
132152 -         of the screen, instead of wrapping.
132153 -
132154 -     4.  Conceal Schedule and other filenames, too confusing.
132155 -
132156 -         This is accomplished now by placing a message showing how to
132157 -         open Help=Ctrl F10, and Menu=Shift F10, each time a user
132158 -         scrolls the screen up or down, or uses the menu.  Perhaps more
132159 -         can be done.
132160 -
132161 -     5.  Reduce "clutter" in Schedule screen, by:
132162 -
132163 -         a.  Eliminating colors that distinguish weekend and holidays
132164 -             from work week days,
132165 -
132166 -         b.  Present information less compactly by spreading out the
132167 -             dates.
132168 -
132169 -         c.  Add a full month calendar, like Wordperfect does.
132170 -
132171 -         d.  Add buttons on the initial screen to indicate the
132172 -             structure of the program.
132173 -
132174 -         e.  Add scroll bars because some people are familiar with
132175 -             them.
132176 -
132177 -     6.  Configure SDS record line numbers off screen.
132178 -
132179 -         He recognizes line numbers provide control of details to
132180 -         improve management productivity, as explained to Anne at ref
132181 -         SDS 1 line 051278, but wonders if it can be accomplished
132182 -         without showing the line numbers.
132183 -
132184 -              He said Anne does not like the line numbers, even though
132185 -              it is standard practice to cite the record in the legal
132186 -              profession, ref OF 1 line 81.
132187 -
132188 -              I showed how line numbers can be suppressed in printed
132189 -              reports, and speculated it might be feasible to manage
132190 -              lines off screen, but that would reduce the control of
132191 -              the text because the cites could not located, as they are
132192 -              applied in legal briefs.
132193 -
132194 -     7.  Citations should be shown with "conventional" formats, rather
132195 -         than use SDS record structure.
132196 -
132197 -         He understands SDS formats give greater flexibility and speed
132198 -         to create and command knowledge and ideas, which is the pur-
132199 -         pose of the program, and could not suggest how this could be
132200 -         accomplished using conventional formats, nor which convention
132201 -         to use.
132202 -
132203 -     8.  Make the SI a window, instead of taking over the entire
132204 -         screen.
132205 -
132206 -            I explained the SI is both a support window and working
132207 -            area where analysis and research is performed.
132208 -
132209 -     9.  Omit the doc Type field on printed reports.
132210 -
132211 -         I think this is a good idea, since the heading alone identi-
132212 -         fies the stuff, symbols are only needed in the program for
132213 -         control.
132214 -
132215 -
132216 -
132217 - Sreadsheet for Knowledge
132218 -
132219 - Russ said he showed SDS to his wife, Patty, and she said it reminds
132220 - her of Lotus 123, and I concurred that SDS is a "spreadsheet for know-
132221 - ledge," integrating the structure of numerical analysis with the flex-
132222 - ibility of language.
132223 -
132224 -
132225 -
132226 - Improving Management Productivity is Challenging
132227 -
132228 - Russ said that before joining KHLS he was a programmer, and found it
132229 - challenging to devise automated solutions to common management tasks.
132230 - He feels SDS meets this objective, but that a better User interface
132231 - would spur acceptance.  He said that if SDS had existed 5 years ago,
132232 - it would be very popular, like Wordperfect today, because of its
132233 - power, speed and flexibility.  But the market has changed.  People are
132234 - wary of making the effort to learn new software because their produc-
132235 - tivity did not improve, as hoped.  Now they want something easy to
132236 - learn that minimizes the investment of time and emotion required to
132237 - determine whether a program will actually improve productivity and
132238 - earning capacity.
132239 -
132240 -
132241 -       Comment
132242 -
132243 -       This creates a catch 22, in which people are afraid to make the
132244 -       investment of time necessary to realize a reward.
132245 -
132246 -       This is common for many fundamental advances.
132247 -
132248 -
132249 -
132250 -
1323 -
1324 -

SUBJECTS
Sony Monitor, KHLS, Loan for SDS evaluation, 931029
KHLS SDS Trial, Hardware Support, Color Monitor

1505 - Summary/Objective
1506 -
150601 - I will pick up the monitor tomorrow or Friday, since Russ will be out
150602 - of the office tomorrow, per Russ' request at ref SDS 6 line 060706.
150603 -
150604 -
150605 -
150606 -
1507 -