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This was my experience for years when I worked in tech support. It seemed like every computer task was just a list of steps. They had to ask "do I left-click, o

This was my experience for years when I worked in tech support. It seemed like every computer task was just a list of steps. They had to ask "do I left-click, or right-click" on every step, because they had developed no "theory" for what a left-click is, and why you'd use it vs. a right-click. It seemed like if they ever missed a step, or a step required them to deviate from their plan, they were entirely lost. I haven't done tech support for years (last was in ~2008) so I don't know if people are generally more savvy or not. I also want to be clear: I'm not mocking anyone for lack of knowledge here. There is a huge population of people who cannot use computers properly. I don't believe that the solution is "make computers easier for people." I believe the solution is: customer service reps, paper billing, and other non-computer alternatives must be available for any service which is even remotely-important.

masswerk 5y ago
> I also want to be clear: I'm not mocking anyone for lack of knowledge here. One of the persons in my sample is my father. He had an introduction to what must have been OS/2 Warp and even had a computer in the office, but never used it (there was still a secretary). In his retirement, he bought a book binder course on how to use an early version of Windows, but hadn't a computer to try it on his own, so this was yet again theoretical and mostly forgotten. At around 80, he finally acquired a laptop, but 10 years later he's essentially at the level described above. (Windows nowadays changing some of its metaphors on a regular basis, doesn't help.) On the other hand, at the age of 90, he's still able to adopt to the interface of a new camera. Partly, because camera UIs tend to be designed more on the principle of providing the least of an interference and mental load as possible, but also because he loves photography. It is important to note that computing isn't a prime occupation for this generation: Yes, it's something they could do, yes, there may be interesting things, they try to participate, but overall, they can do without it and discovery is difficult, therefor, there's never an ultimate urge to adopt. Conversely, they are reduced to the most basic skill level, which doesn't especially promote interest, which in turn hinders progress. You could say, computers are inverse gamification devices for them. This is something to keep in mind, when designing accessible operations. Edit: Adding alleged ease-of-access layers doesn't help. E.g., as may be inferred from the above, archiving and reviewing photos is a favorite occupation on the computer. Transferring and navigating stored photos is complex in its own and eventually mastered to a certain degree. (Still, I keep fixing the same míshaps.) However, adding layers like camera roll, moments or automatic links in the favorites bar, which eventually obscure the custom links placed for ease of access, doesn't help at all. On the contrary, it's just an opaque distraction and obstruction, which will be ignored at best, but will add to the confusion at least, because of their inherent time-based instability in what is supposed to be a stable layer of access. (Also, the "magical" appearance and disappearance of these items doesn't help the ability to form a stable mental model.) Don't do this, provide functionality like this as an option only. (Or, at least, have options to disable this.)
- brimble 5y ago
  > Also, the "magical" appearance and disappearance of these items doesn't help the ability to form a stable mental model. I've observed that any kind of "mode" that isn't extremely clear, visually is terrible for these sorts of folks (and, as with most things that give them trouble, are really terrible for everyone, we're just better at working past it than they are). Tabs that aren't extremely visually clear will leave these users "stuck" on the wrong one without realizing there even are tabs; filters or searches that don't make it super clear that you're "in" a filter or search will make them wonder where the hell all their stuff went, that kind of thing.
  - masswerk 5y ago
    > and, as with most things that give them trouble, are really terrible for everyone, we're just better at working past it than they are A nice example are non-modal security dialogs in web browsers: You initiate an action, which requires expressed acknowledgement to complete. The dialog is blocking, therefor requiring immediate response for the task not to stall. However, there's just a narrow ribbon sitting at the top of the content window waiting to be either acknowledged (probably requiring to initiate said task anew) or to be eventually dismissed by clicking its close button. This isn't natural to anyone, nor does it go with the flow of events, nor does it disclose itself easily to the uninitiated, nor does the addition of yet another element in the vertical flow of layout communicate the urgency and why the task is currently failing. – It's understandable that some users will give up at this instant and will therefor be locked out from using certain applications.

masswerk 5y ago

> I also want to be clear: I'm not mocking anyone for lack of knowledge here. One of the persons in my sample is my father. He had an introduction to what must have been OS/2 Warp and even had a computer in the office, but never used it (there was still a secretary). In his retirement, he bought a book binder course on how to use an early version of Windows, but hadn't a computer to try it on his own, so this was yet again theoretical and mostly forgotten. At around 80, he finally acquired a laptop, but 10 years later he's essentially at the level described above. (Windows nowadays changing some of its metaphors on a regular basis, doesn't help.) On the other hand, at the age of 90, he's still able to adopt to the interface of a new camera. Partly, because camera UIs tend to be designed more on the principle of providing the least of an interference and mental load as possible, but also because he loves photography. It is important to note that computing isn't a prime occupation for this generation: Yes, it's something they could do, yes, there may be interesting things, they try to participate, but overall, they can do without it and discovery is difficult, therefor, there's never an ultimate urge to adopt. Conversely, they are reduced to the most basic skill level, which doesn't especially promote interest, which in turn hinders progress. You could say, computers are inverse gamification devices for them. This is something to keep in mind, when designing accessible operations. Edit: Adding alleged ease-of-access layers doesn't help. E.g., as may be inferred from the above, archiving and reviewing photos is a favorite occupation on the computer. Transferring and navigating stored photos is complex in its own and eventually mastered to a certain degree. (Still, I keep fixing the same míshaps.) However, adding layers like camera roll, moments or automatic links in the favorites bar, which eventually obscure the custom links placed for ease of access, doesn't help at all. On the contrary, it's just an opaque distraction and obstruction, which will be ignored at best, but will add to the confusion at least, because of their inherent time-based instability in what is supposed to be a stable layer of access. (Also, the "magical" appearance and disappearance of these items doesn't help the ability to form a stable mental model.) Don't do this, provide functionality like this as an option only. (Or, at least, have options to disable this.)

brimble 5y ago
> Also, the "magical" appearance and disappearance of these items doesn't help the ability to form a stable mental model. I've observed that any kind of "mode" that isn't extremely clear, visually is terrible for these sorts of folks (and, as with most things that give them trouble, are really terrible for everyone, we're just better at working past it than they are). Tabs that aren't extremely visually clear will leave these users "stuck" on the wrong one without realizing there even are tabs; filters or searches that don't make it super clear that you're "in" a filter or search will make them wonder where the hell all their stuff went, that kind of thing.
- masswerk 5y ago
  > and, as with most things that give them trouble, are really terrible for everyone, we're just better at working past it than they are A nice example are non-modal security dialogs in web browsers: You initiate an action, which requires expressed acknowledgement to complete. The dialog is blocking, therefor requiring immediate response for the task not to stall. However, there's just a narrow ribbon sitting at the top of the content window waiting to be either acknowledged (probably requiring to initiate said task anew) or to be eventually dismissed by clicking its close button. This isn't natural to anyone, nor does it go with the flow of events, nor does it disclose itself easily to the uninitiated, nor does the addition of yet another element in the vertical flow of layout communicate the urgency and why the task is currently failing. – It's understandable that some users will give up at this instant and will therefor be locked out from using certain applications.