I spend a lot of time on my computer and using tons of software. And there are certain software features that make me smile and some that make me grumble bad words (ask Dan who sits a few feet away from me in the office). Here are my current poster children for a terrible flaw and a delightful feature.

Grrrr…. The Annoying Flaw

I usually try not to negatively comment on irritating features. I’ve been in the software business for many years and I have been associated with my fair share of poorly implemented features and design. But this one really bothers me.

The culprit is Quickbooks 2006. It is generally pretty good but has a few shortcomings, some which seem to be there for the sole reason for you to buy one of their services (I am looking at you, Quickbooks Payroll Service).

So there is data entry in an accounting package, right? OK, there are numbers to be entered, right? And the numbers in an accounting package tend to be currency, right? So what the @#%$^%@*# does Quickbooks considers a number with a dollar sign (like $10) to be invalid???!! This really really slays me. I copy numbers from spreadsheets and online banking pages into Quickbooks all the time and I have to delete the $ sign. Come on, people!

Thoughtful Software Design… ahhhhh…

Just thinking about a well-designed feature will calm me down. Thoughtful software design is very tough and my example for a useful, clever and probably relatively easy to program (great combination here) feature is the ability to click and drag a route in Google Maps to change driving directions.

In my example below, I plot a map from San Mateo to Oakland. It recommends going over the San Mateo Bridge. If I wanted to go up the Peninsula first and then over the Bay Bridge, I merely click on the route and drag it towards the route I wish to go.

The feature is obvious, gives good feedback and is even fun. Try it; I know you will like it. Yahoo Maps also supports the same feature now.