4 ms·

The average user has no idea how to use most UIs these days. I have to explain basics of her phone to my mum every time I try to video call her. The difference

by tazjin 5y ago

The average user has no idea how to use most UIs these days. I have to explain basics of her phone to my mum every time I try to video call her. The difference between tech people and people like her is that it's easier for us to notice these issues and talk about them, while - if something doesn't work for her - she'll just shrug and go tend to the garden.

frosted-flakes 5y ago
In my experience, these kind of people are scared of experimenting because they think they might screw something up, and the user-interface doesn't help. My dad has an iPhone, and he doesn't know anything about it. I doubt he's ever closed a browser tab, rearranged his home screen, or switched a running app by double-pressing the home button, and he has problems with the most basic of things. He also has an Apple watch, and the only functions he knows how to use on it are answering calls and activating voice messages ("walkie-talkie"). He has no idea how to sync his phone to the car's radio via Bluetooth, and he still names his contacts in his address book like "AAA Wife" and "AA Home Phone" because he doesn't know there's a favourites button. And he simply doesn't care. He just continues struggling to use his phone without really trying to learn it. My 82-year-old grandmother was better with technology than he is. With people like this who didn't grow up with tech, everything has to be intuitive and obvious. An iPhone certainly isn't. My dad never had trouble with his Nokia, because everything was laid-out in front of him in a one-dimensional way, and all he had to do was scroll down the list and everything was easy to find. I would never put a computer in front of him, but if I did it would hb a Windows 7 computer.
- jorgesborges 5y ago
  There's something to be said about experimenting, but I hate that iPhones have features that are literally hidden and without documentation. Learning to use my iPhone involved randomly pressing things down to see if a menu appeared or reading "10 Things You Didn't Know Your iPhone Could Do" articles. And years later I'm still learning simple things like how to quickly move my cursor when texting (press and hold the space bar).

by tazjin 5y ago

frosted-flakes 5y ago

In my experience, these kind of people are scared of experimenting because they think they might screw something up, and the user-interface doesn't help. My dad has an iPhone, and he doesn't know anything about it. I doubt he's ever closed a browser tab, rearranged his home screen, or switched a running app by double-pressing the home button, and he has problems with the most basic of things. He also has an Apple watch, and the only functions he knows how to use on it are answering calls and activating voice messages ("walkie-talkie"). He has no idea how to sync his phone to the car's radio via Bluetooth, and he still names his contacts in his address book like "AAA Wife" and "AA Home Phone" because he doesn't know there's a favourites button. And he simply doesn't care. He just continues struggling to use his phone without really trying to learn it. My 82-year-old grandmother was better with technology than he is. With people like this who didn't grow up with tech, everything has to be intuitive and obvious. An iPhone certainly isn't. My dad never had trouble with his Nokia, because everything was laid-out in front of him in a one-dimensional way, and all he had to do was scroll down the list and everything was easy to find. I would never put a computer in front of him, but if I did it would hb a Windows 7 computer.

jorgesborges 5y ago
There's something to be said about experimenting, but I hate that iPhones have features that are literally hidden and without documentation. Learning to use my iPhone involved randomly pressing things down to see if a menu appeared or reading "10 Things You Didn't Know Your iPhone Could Do" articles. And years later I'm still learning simple things like how to quickly move my cursor when texting (press and hold the space bar).