Вчера читал очередную работу Максвелла Робертса про транспортные схемы, а там такое:
Unfortunately, in evaluating schematic map design, many researchers simply ask members of the general public which versions they prefer, what they like and dislike about them, and what additional features they would find desirable. Psychology research has a long history of demonstrating that canvassing people’s opinions in this way is a very poor method for identifying the best designs and establishing good-practice. In general, people have very little insight into their own performance and, for any task where they lack expertise and are effectively novices, they tend to base their judgements on the identification of superficial surface features rather than a deep understanding of the concepts involved. For schematic maps, this translates into judgements based upon expectations and prejudices about design.
...
This dissociation between subjective versus objective measures is present even for non-controversial designs. In a study commissioned by the Docklands Light Railway to evaluate car line diagrams, the most popular prototype was associated with the most journey planning errors, the 2nd/3rd most popular designs resulted in inefficient journeys, and the least popular designs were associated with the fewest errors and the most efficient journeys. The overall message from these findings is clear. People can dislike designs that are easy to use, and prefer designs that are difficult to use. Basing a theory of effective design on votes and opinion polls is, therefore, a dangerous pastime.