Joel Spolsky analyzes the “Off” button and menu in Windows Vista. He claims that the UI is cumbersome (and I agree with him), and considers how it could have been better designed.
Using Spolsky’s article as a springboard, former Microsoft developer Moishe Lettvin provides insight into how Microsoft’s departmental organization contributes to this sort of poor design.
Spolsky briefly follows up.
All of this via Ceej.