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It doesn't make sense to distinguish "technical" from "non-technical" users. Plenty of users with no interest in programming and no formal training in computin
by dkarl 16y ago
It doesn't make sense to distinguish "technical" from "non-technical" users. Plenty of users with no interest in programming and no formal training in computing handle these tasks easily. Many users understand that a file exists in a physical location, that it can be copied from a hard drive to a flash drive, and copied from that flash drive to a different computer, and they understand the necessity for that. And they understand that when they use a web app that relieves them of that burden, that the data is now stored "out there" somewhere instead of locally.
From the other side, I had a boss with a Master's in Computer Science who had lots of trouble with normal desktop usability. He certainly never learned to guess which actions were reversible or not. My sister, who teaches history and is barely technically self-sufficient, could run rings about him on the Windows desktop, not to mention my friend the accountant who has never written a program but could be a passable professional programmer with six months' full-time training.
So instead of saying, "this is what non-technical users don't understand," it's better to say, "these misunderstandings are part of the normal spectrum of user savviness that you will have to deal with." Whether a user is technical or non-technical only allows you to make a rough guess about the mistakes they'll make.
- ddelony 16y agoHow do you get a master's in computer science without knowing how to operate a computer?
- Someone 16y agoThe same way you get a master's in astronomy without knowing how to operate a telescope.
- commieneko 16y agoYears ago I had the opportunity to host a professional astronomer at a star party at a dark site. He was really excited because he had never seen the milky way before; at least not with his own eyes. He was totally blown away. Most of the regulars were complaining about the transparency that evening, but to this guy it was a revelation.
- sigstoat 16y agooh, if you want them, most places have plenty of courses that are all reading papers, or talking about managing development, or crossover with cogsci departments. then you do a thesis on how developers are affected by some lights which change color depending on the number of bugs in their tracking system.
- dkarl 16y agoHis Master's was about algorithms and was entirely mathematical. His undergrad was in electrical engineering, and it involved plenty of hands-on work... but he got both his degrees in the 1970s. There's a pretty good chance Windows was not part of the curriculum.