Microsoft's software snoops
MSNBC | at | by Mike
Software giant Microsoft is moving beyond the concept of "usability engineers," the researchers who typically sit in cloistered labs behind one-way mirrors watching consumers grapple with new software. Today, Microsoft has a small team of real, trained anthropologists who visit the homes of regular people and study them at their computers, just as they would an indigenous tribe in the Australian outback. Afterward, they report their findings back to the company, which combines the data with results from focus groups, phone surveys and Microsoft's own usability labs. "My job is to get the larger picture about how people use software," says Kiel, 41, a mother of two who speaks seven languages.