"Putting trust in the aggregate is useful when you're actually looking for statistical data, but could a computer have ever dreamed up an iPhone?"
I don't really understand the dichotomy here. Google doesn't use computers to "dream up" user interfaces; they use statistical data to evaluate the "effectiveness" of user interfaces dreamt up by humans. I think the main difference between Google and most other companies (and the reason why Google is more successful than most other companies) is that Google puts a design's actual "effectiveness" above its designer's ego.
So this:
"One piece of software I'm working on right now has gone through many iterations of user interface, implementation, and even overall strategy."
Is probably pretty much what Google does, too; but Google uses statistical data to decide whether a design needs to be abandoned or improved, and to decide which one of a number of possible designs works best.
by Lukas Mathis — Oct 19
I don't really understand the dichotomy here. Google doesn't use computers to "dream up" user interfaces; they use statistical data to evaluate the "effectiveness" of user interfaces dreamt up by humans. I think the main difference between Google and most other companies (and the reason why Google is more successful than most other companies) is that Google puts a design's actual "effectiveness" above its designer's ego.
So this:
Is probably pretty much what Google does, too; but Google uses statistical data to decide whether a design needs to be abandoned or improved, and to decide which one of a number of possible designs works best.