Usability - Round II

I don't want to work
I want to bang on the drum all day
I don't want to play
I want to bang on the drum all day
-- From Todd Rundgren's "Bang On The Drum All Day"

I know i've been banging the drum lately about applications usability…and I want to do some more banging right now. There's a great opportunity for many Oracle customers, but most are missing out on it: user feedback sessions.

The Oracle Applications Usability Experience ("OAUE") team conducts user feedback sessions at many of the Oracle user conferences - I make it a point to attend each year during Oracle OpenWorld ("OOW") and Collaborate. It's time well-spent for three reasons: 1) you'll have some influence on the design of new Oracle products, 2) you'll also get some feel for Oracle's future direction in a particular product areas, and 3) it's fun! My own user feedback sessions (which were back-to-back) during OOW are prime examples.

My first session involved using a providing user feedback on an enterprise-wide search tool prototype. I was led through the session by Santosh Astagi, a Sr. Usability Engineer with Oracle. The tool itself had some very cool features, especially in the way one could filter searches or tailor the presentation of the results. I admittedly struggled with a few parts of the user script I was using, but Santosh repeatedly assured me that this was a no-pressure situation…even my struggles were valuable feedback. Working with the search tool was interesting and provided some food for thought to take home with me. I'm also thinking about firing my regular psychologist and having sessions with Santosh on a regular basis instead…he's better for my ego.

The second session was even more interesting, as I worked with a prototype User Assistance (or Help) search tool for Fusion Applications. It also felt pretty pressure-free, even though I was working in front of an audience of Oracle people from Laurie Pattison's crew: Joe Goldberg was the eye tracking moderator, Ultan O'Broin and Mindi Cummings both took notes (yeah, I'm so verbose that they needed TWO notetakers to keep up), Rhonda Nelson was the overall session moderator, and Laurie herself also sat in to watch the fun. Another pressure-free session - we got the work done and had lots of laughs along the way. This was another very interesting search tool, but the most fun came when I got a little "passionate" about breadcrumbs. One of the tasks from my script required the use of breadcrumbs in order to be resolved successfully - I failed to see the breadcrumbs until someone pointed them out to me (and they weren't called breadcrumbs, but some other term that just didn't stick with me). Once I stated that I never saw the breadcrumbs, Joe cranked up the trusty eye-tracker application, which shows where and how long my eyes dwelled at particular points on a web-page (geez, my inner geek gets excited just remembering this part of the session - this was serious fun). Turns out I spend quite a bit of time looking at the breadcrumbs, but they failed to register with me. We talked about call breadcrumbs breadcrumbs and about making them jump out at the user a bit more. Just a great session - I walked out pumped up, feeling like I really may have contributed something worthwhile…and the eye-tracking stuff was REALLY cool! You can see a picture of me hacking away, with Joe watching my eye-tracking patterns, here (thanks to Ultan for the pic).

These feedback sessions cut across a wide range of user types (at this past OOW, they even had a session for DBAs on a prototype patch application tool) so, whatever you do with Oracle Applications, there's probably a session well-suited for you. And the OAUE needs more participants in user feedback.

So, as I bang the drum, the takeaway I'm hoping to send you off with: the next time you attend an Oracle user conference, be sure to get in on one of the user feedback sessions. It'll be one of the highlights of your conference.

Oracle OpenWorld 2009 - HIghlights and Impressions

So, I really thought I would write my Oracle OpenWorld experience as a day-by-day, blow-by-blow kind of thing. However, as I started to craft those posts, one thought kept popping into my mind: "This is really self-indulgent, low-value garbage". So I changed my approach to more of a highlights summary…hopefully, ya'all will get more out of this angle. So, here are my highlights and impressions from OOW09:

• The big news, at least from my perspective, is that Larry's keynote included a demonstration of Fusion Applications by Steve Miranda and Chris Leone. Not PowerPoint slides (although there were plenty of those too), but a real honest-to-goodness, live demo for public consumption. You can check out screen-shots here.

• In addition to the demo during Larry's keynote, Oracle Corp. also informed me that my Non-Disclosure Agreement regarding Fusion Applications has been lifted. As I interpret that, that means I can share all the information I have on Fusion Applications: features, underlying technology, delivery schedule…it's all fair game (if anyone from Oracle is reading this, please consider this as one last opportunity to limit my scope before I start spilling my guts).

• I'm also excited about the proactive support approach taken with Oracle's Next-Generation Support program…another part of Ellison's keynote. The idea of recommending fixes before problems arise is one I've personally hoped to see implemented for several years now. It's exciting for the first incremental release to see the light of day.

• The presentation by the Oracle Applications User Experience team (Jeremy Ashley and Katie Candland) at the OAUG Fusion Council session on Sunday afternoon just blew the roof off of Moscone West. We had people taking furious notes and Twitter was on fire with positive feedback. I think folks began to get a feel for the work the User Experience team is doing and the benefits of that work to Oracle apps customers. But I'll write more about that later (remember that I still owe ya'all an article on how I spent the Thursday before OOW).

• The other User Experience presentation I was able to attend was "How Customer Collaboration Improves The User Experience". The subject matter here was on how the Oracle Usability Advisory Board is helping to guide the design of Oracle's applications. I've recently joined the OUAB myself and look forward to getting more deeply involved in the process.

• The Unconference is a big winner in my book. I presented four times at OOW, three in the Unconference. No PowerPoint slides for any presentation I made, by the way. The interaction from the audience in an informal setting is great - I learned as much as I shared in the Unconference. If you haven't engaged in the OOW Unconference yet, give it a try next year.

• During my roadmap presentation in the Unconference, I shared the news that my shop is beginning to look at Open Source replacements for some Fusion Middleware components. It's not that we dislike the Fusion Middleware components (far from it, in fact) but, in a period of declining budgets, we can't afford the maintenance and support fees. We're looking for replacements strictly out of economic necessity.

• I attended very few E-Business sessions that were really about EBS. Most were promotions for using Fusion Middleware components with EBS. That was more than a little disappointing.

• On the other hand, Nadia Bendjedou's talk on "10 Things You Can Do Today To Prepare For Fusion Applications", was outstanding as always. The list of 10 things is up to 14 now…I learn new things every time I hear this presentation.

• Most EBS customers were still on 11i. I suspect that the release of information about Fusion Apps will allow more customers to begin their upgrades to either R12.x or Fusion Apps.

• One of the absolute high points of the conference for me was participating in two User Experience user feedback sessions on Wed. afternoon. I'll talk more about this in a future post, but I highly recommend engaging in one of these sessions if you ever get the chance. BTW, both sessions involved different types of search tools…I wonder if Oracle is working on search functionality? Hmmm….

• The good news is that, at least for the foreseeable future, EBS will continue to run on an OC4J-based technology stacking. The bad news is that, if you implement the external integration with Oracle's 11g Applications Server (which is a WebLogic apps server), your database administrators, appstech staff, and systems administrators will need skills in both OC4J and WebLogic.

• Didn't see much on Discoverer at all; only a passing mention in a few customer presentations. I think Discoverer is on life-support. By the way, it seems there are problems in running Discoverer with EBS 12.05 or earlier - those problems are allegedly fixed in 12.06, 12.1, and 12.1.1.

• I'm not too excited about the Exadata concept in and of itself; it's just not my area of expertise, so I don't have enough knowledge to get really excited about the concept. However, when I stand close to all that sleek, shiny hardware…I want one! It's a lot like walking on a car lot and checking out a Maserati - I don't understand the technology, but it looks so good and runs so fast that I want one.

• On the Exadata note, I really enjoy it when Larry Ellison starts to trash-talk the competition. There's nobody in the business better at it, and Larry took some real digs at IBM throughout the conference. You can read about his server duel challenge here.

• With all the digging at IBM, I found it ironic that IBM was the sponsor for the OAUG reception on Wednesday evening.

• The best informal flow of information at the conference took place in the Oracle Technology Network Lounge. I learned more by hanging out there and swapping info with friends than anything I picked up in most of the formal presentations.

• Lots of information on Fusion Middleware, and especially the Applications Integration Architecture. Also tons of info on WebCenter - I think WebCenter has a lot of potential, but lacks the business use cases to really gain traction with the end users. WebCenter needs some business-related stories because, in most enterprises these days, those business end-users hold the purse strings.

• Three admittedly self-indulgent points to raise: 1) thanks to Justin for wading through the muck and clearing my blogger's credentials; 2) thanks to Joan Levy, who learned about my crummy seating during the Wed. keynote (via Twitter) and guided me to a much better seat (and a much better attitude as well); 3) Basheer Kahn, Debra Lilley and I did a joint presentation Thursday morning on "Why We Can't Wait For Fusion Applications." I have to thank Debra for being such a good sport with all the grief I have her during that presentation - teasing Debra is one of my favorite pastimes, simply because I always get such a good reaction; playing dumb, being ornery, poking gentle fun…it all gets a rise from Debra, but in a very good-natured way. So thanks, Debra.

So, with all those highlights, I finally realized the real reason I keep coming back to OOW year after year. It hit me Tuesday night, when we had a gathering of friends in the lobby of the Hotel Nikko. Though I won't name names here, the core of this group is really a "who's who" in the field of Oracle applications. This does leave open the question of how in the world I ever got involved with these folks…but I am nevertheless and feel very fortunate about it. At any rate, we were swapping information and catching up on our personal lives well into the late hours of the night. It was a special night and, sometime during that night, I realized that the camaraderie with people I respect and care deeply about is the reason I keep coming back. Can't wait for next year!

Pre-OOW - Drinking From A Firehose

So, while I'm sitting in my hotel room this Saturday afternoon (watching my beloved Cardinals get stomped into the ground by -gulp- the Dodgers), I feel like I've been drinking from a firehose for the past couple of days.

First, for those of you who have been sitting on the edge of your seat worrying about world security, rest easy. The TSA is still protecting us from chubby, bald, geeky threats...yes, they hand-checked my luggage again. The streak is still intact.

Thursday was an incredible day, spent entirely at Oracle HQ. There will be a blog post or two discussing Thursday in detail. I'm still contemplating on what to write and how to write it, because I think it will be a very important article. In the meantime, let me just say that Oracle's work in the area of user experience is a huge story. For those of you attending Oracle OpenWorld, come to the OAUG Fusion Council session on Sunday from 2-3 p.m. in Moscone West and you'll get a flavor for what I mean. Those of you who aren't able to make San Francisco this year, I'll get something up on the blog soon. And, trust me, this is big stuff.

I was part of the Oracle Ace Director briefing on Friday. Lots of good info on upcoming releases and improvements for the technology products. One recurring theme I was very happy to hear about: improving support for REST. For those of you considering a RESTful approach, you'll get news to be excited about very, very soon. The whole briefing was good - more about enabling developers and DBAs than some type of sales pitch. The presentation on APEX has really stuck with me. Although I do wish we had more news on applications-related technology; that piece was missing from the briefing. Nevertheless, the ACE Director briefings are always a highlight of OOW for me...we get more straight-up info here than anywhere else.

Today (Saturday) is like a brief respite before OOW kicks into gear on Sunday. However, my own brief respite has been just a little irritating. I changed hotels today, moving from San Marcos to downtown San Francisco. Checking into the hotel was a bit of an adventure, courtesy of some "help" from American Express, but all that got worked out (with a massive assist from my wife, who despite being loveable can really kick some butt when needed). Registration for OOW was no better: no speaker ribbon, no blogger ribbon (and you know how I love my ribbons) and no blogger credential. I had some friends work this last item on my behalf: Justin Kestelyn (Mr. OTN himself - I just refer to him as "The Man") got on the phone with the registration people, fellow ACE and blogger John Stouffer flirted with another registration specialist in an attempt to get some special consideration for me while his wife observed with more than a little amusement (which, understandably failed...poor John wound up sobbing on his wife's shoulder after the object of his flirtations broke out in uncontrollable laughter), and fellow ACE Director Steve Romeo offered to dance on a table for several of the registration specialists (an offer that was handily rejected - if you've ever seen Steve dance, you'd understand why). All those magnificent efforts when for naught. I understand that Oracle PR is working on the blogger thing, so that may still get worked out. Mr. Romeo was kind enough to buy me lunch today in an attempt to cheer me up and I'm having dinner with a group of old friends later tonight, but I hope this is not a harbinger of how OOW will go for me this year.

One last thing: I'm kicking off the previously-mentioned OAUG Fusion Council session tomorrow and speaking at the Unconference three times during OOW. I've decided to abstain from putting up any PowerPoint slides whatsoever at any of these sessions. I'm a little tired of watching the eyes in the audience drift away after I run through a few slides in a deck. I'm hoping that, by abstaining from PowerPoint, my sessions will have more give-and-take discussion rather than slipping into lecture mode.

So, batten down the hatches, here we go...