<But, first, this is already a 3rd-order failure: the product was poorly-designed enough not to be clear, and failed to offer in-product guidance or help to gui

<But, first, this is already a 3rd-order failure: the product was poorly-designed enough not to be clear, and failed to offer in-product guidance or help to guide the user to the right solution.> Traditionally, lots of support calls amount to "pilot error" and led to the common acronym RTFM. Even the simplest, most basic things could warrant a call to support (especially if free) from somebody seeking a de facto handholding or tutorial. The other end of the spectrum is when you (as support) get a call from a user who is a known quantity infamous for really knowing the product... better than most users. Seeing such a name on a support ticket induces a shudder, because you know he's revealed some hairball of a problem that will eat your day... or week, with the only mitigating factor being his/her detailed strategy of workarounds already attempted. (You out there anywhere, Bob Kaplan?)