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Ironically despite there being less choices in an effort to make it easier for that "90%", the amount of tech support friends and family request from me has onl

by yesco 7y ago

Ironically despite there being less choices in an effort to make it easier for that "90%", the amount of tech support friends and family request from me has only increased in the past years. Personally I don't buy the whole "removing choices to stop users from hurting themselves" excuse. To me it seems like over zealous designers trimming far more than necessary to make things look nicer at the cost of usability. But what do I know?

grenoire 7y ago
Regarding the increase, I would argue that is less about increased device complexity but more about the increase in the amount of people who are using these devices on a daily basis. More they use, the more problems they encounter; I think the intersection between complexity and usage is determined moreso by the latter.
- nvrspyx 7y ago
  I doubt the number of people using smartphones and computers has increased significantly in developed/first-world countries, especially when it comes to one’s family and friends. As anecdotal as it may be, my friends and family have used computers and smartphones for years, but I’ve experienced the same increase in requests for tech support as the parent comment. Further, no one said there’s increased complexity. The argument is that the oversimplification, the removal of features, and overzealous design assumptions have made UX go in the wrong direction. It’s also an argument I agree with. A lot of UX design today fails to recognize the spectrum of “tech literacy” and it should, ideally, accommodate all within that spectrum, rather than pander to the least “tech literate” end. It’s not always possible, but it should be strived towards. Instead, we have UX trending towards attempting to be so “intuitive” that it becomes counterproductive.
  - apostacy 7y ago
    I had an interesting incident recently, where I was with some relatives and we were trying to plan the next leg of our trip; what restaurants to go to and what directions to take, etc. Anyway, we had to start using a paper notepad and pens to keep track of the information! Even for people who just want to paste an address from a text message to look up in maps, and especially if you want to do anything with the calendar. I just remember 15 years ago on my Treo 650 never needing to do that, and having no problem copying text between different apps seamlessly, between calendar, email, text, maps, and other apps. Same with Blackberry. Using modern Android is as awkward as driving a car with a mouse. But I think there was an intentional push to minimize options for users, to make fewer pathways for things to go wrong. Forcing people to use pen and paper when they have a smartphone next to them is a UX success for them, because they don't have to improve handling text.
eecc 7y ago
I'm afraid that's Agile development for you; teams contemplating the emptiness of their backlog and rushing to invent an endless stream of small t-shirts to fill it and keep the velocity within the desired KPIs. /s
stetrain 7y ago
People are using tech to do a lot more. 20 years ago tech was a thing you sat down at, turned on, and used to check your email, update a spreadsheet, or type up a document. Now we're using computers and software every waking hour and using software with millions of distributed users that we expect to always show us the latest updates. We're using phones for banking and payments, to turn our lights on and off, to keep a lifetime of family photos backed up and synced across multiple devices. It has made things more complex, but I don't think a world of 1997 style configure-it-yourself software would necessarily help with that.

by yesco 7y ago

grenoire 7y ago

Regarding the increase, I would argue that is less about increased device complexity but more about the increase in the amount of people who are using these devices on a daily basis. More they use, the more problems they encounter; I think the intersection between complexity and usage is determined moreso by the latter.

nvrspyx 7y ago
I doubt the number of people using smartphones and computers has increased significantly in developed/first-world countries, especially when it comes to one’s family and friends. As anecdotal as it may be, my friends and family have used computers and smartphones for years, but I’ve experienced the same increase in requests for tech support as the parent comment. Further, no one said there’s increased complexity. The argument is that the oversimplification, the removal of features, and overzealous design assumptions have made UX go in the wrong direction. It’s also an argument I agree with. A lot of UX design today fails to recognize the spectrum of “tech literacy” and it should, ideally, accommodate all within that spectrum, rather than pander to the least “tech literate” end. It’s not always possible, but it should be strived towards. Instead, we have UX trending towards attempting to be so “intuitive” that it becomes counterproductive.
- apostacy 7y ago
  I had an interesting incident recently, where I was with some relatives and we were trying to plan the next leg of our trip; what restaurants to go to and what directions to take, etc. Anyway, we had to start using a paper notepad and pens to keep track of the information! Even for people who just want to paste an address from a text message to look up in maps, and especially if you want to do anything with the calendar. I just remember 15 years ago on my Treo 650 never needing to do that, and having no problem copying text between different apps seamlessly, between calendar, email, text, maps, and other apps. Same with Blackberry. Using modern Android is as awkward as driving a car with a mouse. But I think there was an intentional push to minimize options for users, to make fewer pathways for things to go wrong. Forcing people to use pen and paper when they have a smartphone next to them is a UX success for them, because they don't have to improve handling text.

eecc 7y ago

I'm afraid that's Agile development for you; teams contemplating the emptiness of their backlog and rushing to invent an endless stream of small t-shirts to fill it and keep the velocity within the desired KPIs. /s

stetrain 7y ago

People are using tech to do a lot more. 20 years ago tech was a thing you sat down at, turned on, and used to check your email, update a spreadsheet, or type up a document. Now we're using computers and software every waking hour and using software with millions of distributed users that we expect to always show us the latest updates. We're using phones for banking and payments, to turn our lights on and off, to keep a lifetime of family photos backed up and synced across multiple devices. It has made things more complex, but I don't think a world of 1997 style configure-it-yourself software would necessarily help with that.