In this article about the state of the Dutch police (in Dutch) the introduction of a new software system surfaces as a major gripe of the Dutch officers.

The interviewees want a better computer system. 91 percent of the officers who work with the so-called Basic System for Enforcement qualifies the system not user-friendly. One officer reports that his station started working with the system in 2008. Half a year later his team still apologizes to the public through posters: taking your report may take a bit longer. 'This really is insane.'

One detective had this to say about how the new software affected his work:

The introduction of a new computer system last year has slowed me down. After every click I have to wait for a new menu appear. Bringing up a picture takes one minute. I would rather spend that time by going to the Amsterdam harbor, to check on my network.

I'm just flabbergasted that a system like this got to go live. It seems to me that if you work on a computer system that will be used by thousands of law enforcement professionals, that you make it work. And if you're finished and it turns out it doesn't work: you make it work. Because as shown above, deploying poorly functioning software can slow down and frustrate your police force.

You could challenge whether the remark of the second detective is actually about usability. It could be argued that it is about system performance. However, I think that performance (speed) and reliability (bugs) of a system are huge determinants of a system's usability. Usability is about a systems effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction, and poor performance and bugs tend to have a tremendously negative effect on both efficiency and enjoyability. So even though you have to go to the software developers to get the issue fixed, and not to the interaction designer, it's still a usability issue.

[Photo: Amstersam]