Jef Raskin
1943–2005 · American computer interface expert
Topics: software design, simplicity, complexity, unix
A computer shall not waste your time or require you to do more work than is strictly necessary.
— Jef RaskinThe system should treat all user input as sacred.
— Jef RaskinIcons, windows, mice, big operating systems, huge programs, integrated packages.... I would like to remind the world that just because two things are on the same menu doesn't mean they taste good together.
— Jef RaskinImagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.
— Jef RaskinA computer shall not harm your work or, through inaction, allow your work to come to harm.
— Jef RaskinAn unlimited-length file name is a file. The content of a file is its own best name.
— Jef RaskinOnce the product's task is known, design the interface first; then implement to the interface design.
— Jef RaskinRight now, computers, which are supposed to be our servant, are oppressing us.
— Jef RaskinUsers do not care about what is inside the box, as long as the box does what they need done.
— Jef RaskinAn interface is humane if it is responsive to human needs and considerate of human frailties.
— Jef RaskinAs far as the customer is concerned, the interface is the product.
— Jef RaskinI hate mice. The mouse involves you in arm motions that slow you down. I didn't want it on the Macintosh, but Jobs insisted. In those days, what he said went, good idea or not.
— Jef RaskinIn looking back at this turn-of-the-century period, the rise of a worldwide network will be seen as the most significant part of the computer revolution.
— Jef RaskinHave you ever noticed that there are no Maytag user groups? Nobody needs a mutual support group to run a washing machine.
— Jef RaskinWhen you have to choose among methods, your locus of attention is drawn from the task and temporarily becomes the decision itself.
— Jef Raskin