The Nonsense Clinic on kicking that nasty buzzword habit

[Dcrux]

Running an online validator for code is something most web builders wouldn't forget. Want to shame a techie? Point to the validation result page.

Now wouldn't it be nice to run a validation of content? With Fight The Bull (http://www.fightthebull.com/putinthering.asp) now you can.

- Scalable
- Easy to Use
- Robust

All buzzwords have a meaning deficiency. Some of the software I've used makes a mockery of the term ease of use. Frankly, the first thought when seeing any variation of ease-of-use is user testing wasn't properly done. Or the term is the developer's own pronouncement of what their programmers find easy to use.

Not to put down any programmer's fantasy life, but users don't need baseless claims ...they need evidence the claims have meaning.

If there are some common tasks, name them. If you've reduced user error, cite the percentage. This has what Gene Schwartz called belief structure. Buzzwords are often claims without context. They can mean one thing to the developer, when the users expect something entirely different.

It is better to make one or two substantive claims than a dozen baseless superlatives. Robust may mean less downtime. Scaleable may mean peripherals can be added and working in less time than it takes to read the other guy's quickstart guide.

Buzzwords are so intoxicating they should have their own wing at the Betty Ford Center. But just like real intoxication, buzzword use is the first sign of an information age problem.

[ADAM Web Design]

DCrux, your post intrinsically has a scalable, robust, easy-to-use infrastructure that will enable you to become a leader in the industry and continue to adapt to global paradigms.

I have forwarded your informative article to the Junior Vice-President of Executive Operations, and we have mutually concluded that your exceptional performance and dedication to your job will lead to at least one nomination for Employee of the Fiscal Year. If you win, you will be entitled to an expired $5 gift certificate at Chuck E. Cheese and a frisbee with the BSCo logo imprinted upon it.

Oh, and could you possibly stay an extra few minutes until approximately 1 o'clock in the morning? We really need some extra help on the Newman account. Connie's sick again, but we won't fire her because she did show up for 3 days this year.

And that's MY Swingline stapler. I brought it from home!

Okay, all kidding aside, I'm getting more and more sick of the corporate jargon. It's nothing more than a superficial coating over a house of sand most of the time.

Great post!

[mike]

Fun thread already.

[khurramali]

Who has the time to get into this stuff, certainly I won’t waste my time pursuing this route.

[ADAM Web Design]

Get into what stuff? And what route?

[khurramali]

The validator at w3c works for me.

http://validator.w3.org/

I am not interested in Bull Fighting.

[ADAM Web Design]

I don't think you quite grasped the concept. It's a tongue-in-cheek website.

[khurramali]

It seemed like a riddle to me.

Something just did'nt seem right,

Thanks for pointing it out.

[Dcrux]

Deloitte consulting used to tout a Microsoft plugin called Bullfighter, which they offered for download from their site. The software got tremendous play in the press.


Deloitte Consulting admits it helped foster confusing, indecipherable words like "synergy,'' "paradigm'' and "extensible repository.'' But now it has decided enough is enough. On Tuesday, it released Bullfighter to help writers of business documents avoid jargon and use clear language.

"We've had it with repurposeable, value-added knowledge capital and robust, leverageable mind share,'' Deloitte Consulting partner Brian Fugere said.

Bullfighter, as the software is called, could potentially help investors spot troubled companies. Used to test language used by now-bankrupt energy trader Enron from 1999 through 2001, Fugere said the program found that "it got progressively more obscure as they got deeper and deeper into trouble."

"We think that's a good indicator of the linkage between clear and straight communications and business performance, including the issue of transparency and trust, which is such a big issue these days,'' Fugere said.
-- Software aims to 'cut the bull' (http://software.silicon.com/applications/0,39024653,10004726,00.htm)


Hopefully humor is not without its purpose. When you really think about it, these bull fighting programs are probably more about content management than any CMS software.