---
product_id: 3837232
title: "The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity"
brand: "alan cooper"
price: "AR$128992"
currency: ARS
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/3837232-the-inmates-are-running-the-asylum-why-high-tech-products
store_origin: AR
region: Argentina
---

# The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity

**Brand:** alan cooper
**Price:** AR$128992
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity by alan cooper
- **How much does it cost?** AR$128992 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.ar](https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/3837232-the-inmates-are-running-the-asylum-why-high-tech-products)

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## Description

The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity

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## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    How To Restore The Sanity
  

*by M***N on Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2005*

The high-tech industry has inadvertently put programmers and engineers in charge, so their hard-to-use engineering culture dominates. In our rush to accept the many benefits of the silicon chip, we have abdicated our responsibilities. We have let the inmates run the asylum. When the inmates run the asylum, it is hard for them to see clearly the nature of the problems that bedevil them. When you look in the mirror, it is all too easy to single out your best features and overlook the warts. When the creators of the software-based products examine their handiwork, they overlook how bad it is. Instead they see its awesome power and flexibility. Programming is such a difficult and absorbing task, that it dominates all other considerations, including the concerns of the users. Programmers aren't evil. They work hard to make their software easy to use. Unfortunately, their frame of reference is themselves, so they only make it easy to use for other software engineers, not for normal human beings. Why high tech products drive us crazy and how to restore the sanity? This is what this book is about.Because it is far cheaper for manufacturers to use computers to control the internal functioning of devices than it is to use older, mechanical methods, it is economically inevitable that computers will insinuate themselves into every product and service in our lives. This means that the behaviour of all of our products will soon be the same as most obnoxious computers, unless we try something different. The incredible power of computers means that few people can afford to ignore them. Even if you don't have a desktop computer, you probably own a VCR and an ATM card, which are software-based products. It is unrealistic to simply say you "won't use computers". They aren't just getting cheaper; they are getting ridiculously cheaper, to the point of ubiquity and disposability. Many familiar products that we imagine as mechanical (or electronic) are no longer made without computers. Cars, washing machines, televisions, vacuum cleaners, thermostats and elevators are all good examples.This book is written with humour, liveliness, and amusement, it has a lot of funny illustrations. Yet it reveals the problems of software industry which were left attention for decades. One of the problem is "elastic user", such a user which must bend and stretch and adapt to the needs of the moment. When a company speaks about the software it develops, every party involved (management, programmers, testers, sales) include different meaning into the word "user". In "Goal-Directed design", the participants never refer to "the user". Instead, they refer to a very specific individual: "a persona". To create a product that must satisfy a broad audience of users, logic will tell you to make it as broad in its functionality as possible to accommodate the most people. Logic is wrong. You will have far greater success by designing for one single person. Imagine that you were designing an automobile to please a wide spectrum of people. You could easily identify at least three subgroups: the soccer mom, the carpenter, and the junior executive. Mom wants a safe, stable vehicle with lots of space and big doors for hauling the kids, dogs, groceries and other stuff. The carpenter wants a rugged vehicle with all-wheel drive and abundant room for ladders, lumber, bags of cement, and tools. The young executive wants a sporty car with a powerful engine, stiff suspension, convertible top and only enough room for too. If we make such a combination vehicle, what a goofy, impossible car will appear! Making three different products in software is lot easier than making them in steel, too. Another problem which the author points to is "the customer-driven death spiral", where "conceptual integrity" is the only solution.The author declares that the key to solving the problems is interaction design, and exposes the Goal-Directed design method that provides manufacturers of high tech products with an insightful understanding of their users and a practical blueprint for a superior result. Alan Cooper, the author of the book, and his company, have designed a wide range of products ranging from clean, simple kiosk systems to complex scientific applications, controls for consumer-oriented computer peripherals, conceptual designs for entire product lines, eCommerce sites. The list of companies that adopted the Goal-Directed design includes many industry leaders, large and small, such as 3M, Proctor & Gamble, Dolby Labs, Fujitsu, HP, Informatica, Logitech, SAP, Charles Schwab, St. Jude Medical, and Varian. The description of Goal-Directed design in this book is very reader-friendly and is targeted to the broad audience. Alan Cooper gives the further explanation of this method in his following book "About Face 2.0", aimed mostly to the engineers. Although these two books are still not enough to deploy this method in your organisation, they show how vital this technique is for a successful product.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Great Ideas, Not Always Well Presented
  

*by B***S on Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2000*

The culture of software development is changing, but grudgingly. The short-sighted notion "It's better to be first with something bad than second with something perfect" has been discredited after too long a  reign as the New Paradigm of the Information Age ("It's brilliant  because it's counter-intuitive!"), and instead has been exposed for  what it is: bad business and a lousy way to treat customers. Alan Cooper's  book helps make sense of things as software developers, after decades of  coding for each other, are forced to begin acknowledging the cold and  strange outside world of Real Life Users.Cooper's writing is generally  clear and easy to follow. He documents his points well and uses numerous  true-to-life examples to illustrate the concepts. The ATM analysis, for  example, is both effective and memorabl: Why DOES the ATM list account  types you don't have, permitting an invalid selection? Why can't you return  to a previous screen to correct mistakes, instead of starting over from  scratch? Why doesn't the system give you an error message that helps you  understand the problem, rather than "Unable to complete transaction"? No  one even bothers to ask these questions, Cooper points out, because we've  accepted the default structure of ATM screens--which were created for the  convenience of coders and system engineers, rather than users.Cooper  also performs a valuable service in demolishing that old standby  programmers' excuse: "We don't call any of the shots-it's all management's  fault!" Bull. Half the managers in the computer industry are former coders  themselves (and laboring under an outmoded and faulty mental model of how  software development must occur, by the way). The other half are so  non-technical that they're at the mercy of the coders, who are free to  decide which features are most important, which will take too long, and  ultimately, which will or won't make the cut for the next release. Coders  ARE driving this bus, if occasionally from the back seat, and they need to  take responsibility for what they produce-and be humble enough to admit  that an indispensable part of the development process  (interface/interaction design) is beyond their abilities.That said,  Cooper's writing style itself is less than perfect. He presents many  compelling case histories, but at times he seems to lean too heavily on  insider stories, as if showing off his contacts and expertise in the  industry. And, of course, Cooper is far too much in love with his "dancing  bear" metaphor; long before you've reached the halfway point, you'll be  muttering, "One page...just ONE page without a `dancing bearware'  reference, PLEASE! That's all I ask!"But the messages and lessons in  this book are too important to ignore. As Cooper tries to remind us, it is  everyday users-not the power users, not even the "computer  literate"-who are the core audience. They're the ones you have to  design for: a successful interaction design, rather than a burgeoning list  of clever features, is what will determine your product's success or  failure.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Worth the time and money
  

*by A***E on Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 1999*

Cooper has done a good job of pointing out common problems in software design.  The book is well written, with interesting examples and anecdotes to illustrate the author's points.  While most of the book focuses on  "off the shelf" products, I think the author's arguments are even  more relevant to custom software development.  If you already believe that  software is poorly designed, this book is unlikely to be a revalation to  you.  It will, however, give you some ammunition to use in discussions with  "apologists".I agree with the earlier reviewer, who said that  the people most needing to read it probably won't.  This would seem to be a  great book for development managers and purchasers of software, but I think  the only people likely to read the whole thing are professional  developers.I have two criticisms of the book (for which I give it 4 out  of 5 stars): too often it comes across as an advertisement for the author's  company; and I would have appreciated more "how-to" information.  To this latter point, the author himself says in his preface that he had  intended to write a "how-to" book, but was talked into writing a  "business case" book instead.  I hope that he will soon follow up  this effort with the planned "how-to" book.A final question --  what is with these 1 star reviews?  I've read a few of them now, for  different books, and I have to question whether the reviewer has even read  the book.  If so, they seem to have completely missed the point.  At the  very least, if giving a 1 star review, please provide some detailed  criticisms so I can decide whether I am likely to share your opinion.

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*Last updated: 2026-01-31*