Re: Draining the Swamp: A Technical User's Experience

[Maciej Stachowiak <mjs noisehavoc org>]

On 07May2002 11:44PM (+0100), Rui Miguel Silva Seabra wrote:
> 
> I have to confess I find this situation a little too forced to be
> believable when it comes from people who know best...
> 
> Speaking for me, I never had any trouble finding this kinds of options
> just as I have absolutely no problem trying to find some option on
> xchat, a supposedly prodigal example.
> 
> But maybe that can be because when I install a new program I explore
> it... I see all options in the setting dialog and try them out, to see
> whether they'll make my experience with the app better or not.

The fact that you explore the options after installing an app makes
you very different from most users. Most users don't care about
fiddling with their programs

You should try watching a user testing video sometime, and watch a
more typical user struggle with an overly complicated UI.

Now, it's easy to put these people down as "dumb". But that's really
not what it's about. I don't know how to give my car a tune-up, or
even how to change my own oil without having a service station doing
it for me. But that's not because I'm dumb, it's because I don't care
about the details of my car, I just want to get from point A to point
B.

That's how most users feel about their computers and their
software. It's just a tool, not a thing to be excited about in
itself. They want to use it to do their job, communicate, read,
express themselves in interesting ways, play games, and so forth.

Regards,

Maciej