4 ms·

The thing is, you are beginning to 'blame the user' because they 'don't get it'. Isn't the purpose is that there isn't anything to get? It should 'just work' wi

by hoi 14y ago

The thing is, you are beginning to 'blame the user' because they 'don't get it'. Isn't the purpose is that there isn't anything to get? It should 'just work' with minimal thinking, with no frustration. It doesn;t matter that Kanji is enabled... maybe it was enabled by accident? But it doesn;t resolve his problem? Maybe he doesn;t know how to easily enable/disable languages because he finds it hard to configure? If anything, this is useful data for Apple (and any UX designers) to look at to resolve potential usability problems.

DHowett 14y ago
The real-world analogues of the devices he's interacting with do just work with minimal thinking, and this is what the letter index mimics. In an indexed book, you find the letter and quickly flip open the book to the proper page. In an indexed scrolling list, you touch it and scroll directly to that letter (or magnifying glass). I really don't intend to 'blame the user,' but I'd respect the 'user' at least a little bit more if the user would explore the software. The options are very clearly laid out, in the user's language (especially wherein a user can use said language to write such an in-depth rant!), and they are discoverable with even the most casual searching. Touching the screen isn't going to get your fingers sawed off or anything. It's there to be touched, and destructive actions are insulated from touch. A little exploration goes more than a long way.
- hoi 14y ago
  Sure, for this guy, who is supposedly a tech guy. But if we consider the 'mass market' we're at the point where we have millions of 'dumb' smartphone users. The people who are used to feature phones are migrating to smartphones, and it's this 'mass' demographic that usability issues need to address.
pooriaazimi 14y ago
Guy activated kanji in preferences, but doesn't like it. I don't know who else should be blamed! The iPhone comes with only your local keyboard layouts. Do you expect apple to display a pop up every time you change the language saying "did you know you can disable unwanted keyboard layouts?"
- tijs 14y ago
  He actually needs to switch to Kanji several times a day as he says clearly "I must turn my texts and emails into Kanji ten times a day." The gripe is with the layout of the Kanji keyboard which, looking at that screenshot, is indeed pretty ridiculous.
  - loopdoend 14y ago
    I think he meant "I must" in the incredulous sense, like it must happen to him that frequently as it is driving him nuts.
  - ryannielsen 14y ago
    First, he had to very explicitly enable that keyboard (not easily done by accident, considering it's about 7 taps deep in Settings). After enabling, it is rather simple to activate that keyboard – hitting the globe icon on the keyboard will cycle through all enabled keyboards. Second, the keyboard isn't ridiculous. It's actually quite powerful. He took a screenshot of the Chinese – Simplified (Handwriting) keyboard, which allows users to draw characters in the blank area. I hear it's an incredibly popular input method in China. Of course, the iPhone offers 6 other Chinese input methods, ranging from traditional keyboards to the drawing methods.
    - lmm 14y ago
      I thought apple was all about picking the best method for you rather than having you make decisions.
      - jopt 14y ago
        And you think that principle applies well to... keyboard layouts?
        lmm 14y ago
        Within a single language, yes. Obviously you want a different method for Chinese than for English, but I don't want to choose between six different ways of inputting Chinese.
tsahyt 14y ago
"Isn't the purpose is that there isn't anything to get?" I know what you're trying to say, but you're entering a very dangerous area here. There is no useful system, anywhere, that doesn't require some amount of understanding. Even intuition doesn't come out of nowhere. Our intuition is only based on what we've learned so far. That is why we click on things that look like buttons and that is why, when facing a steak, we intuitively "know" it's edible. In both cases the outcome may not be as expected, but that's a different story. My point is, that a system which requires no prior knowledge whatsoever and no understanding is essentially useless, because it literally couldn't do anything, for it would just be a void. I'm getting philosophical here, I know. Even the simplest of systems require a user to grok its basics to become useful.

by hoi 14y ago

DHowett 14y ago

The real-world analogues of the devices he's interacting with do just work with minimal thinking, and this is what the letter index mimics. In an indexed book, you find the letter and quickly flip open the book to the proper page. In an indexed scrolling list, you touch it and scroll directly to that letter (or magnifying glass). I really don't intend to 'blame the user,' but I'd respect the 'user' at least a little bit more if the user would explore the software. The options are very clearly laid out, in the user's language (especially wherein a user can use said language to write such an in-depth rant!), and they are discoverable with even the most casual searching. Touching the screen isn't going to get your fingers sawed off or anything. It's there to be touched, and destructive actions are insulated from touch. A little exploration goes more than a long way.

hoi 14y ago
Sure, for this guy, who is supposedly a tech guy. But if we consider the 'mass market' we're at the point where we have millions of 'dumb' smartphone users. The people who are used to feature phones are migrating to smartphones, and it's this 'mass' demographic that usability issues need to address.

pooriaazimi 14y ago

Guy activated kanji in preferences, but doesn't like it. I don't know who else should be blamed! The iPhone comes with only your local keyboard layouts. Do you expect apple to display a pop up every time you change the language saying "did you know you can disable unwanted keyboard layouts?"

tijs 14y ago
He actually needs to switch to Kanji several times a day as he says clearly "I must turn my texts and emails into Kanji ten times a day." The gripe is with the layout of the Kanji keyboard which, looking at that screenshot, is indeed pretty ridiculous.
- loopdoend 14y ago
  I think he meant "I must" in the incredulous sense, like it must happen to him that frequently as it is driving him nuts.
- ryannielsen 14y ago
  First, he had to very explicitly enable that keyboard (not easily done by accident, considering it's about 7 taps deep in Settings). After enabling, it is rather simple to activate that keyboard – hitting the globe icon on the keyboard will cycle through all enabled keyboards. Second, the keyboard isn't ridiculous. It's actually quite powerful. He took a screenshot of the Chinese – Simplified (Handwriting) keyboard, which allows users to draw characters in the blank area. I hear it's an incredibly popular input method in China. Of course, the iPhone offers 6 other Chinese input methods, ranging from traditional keyboards to the drawing methods.
  - lmm 14y ago
    I thought apple was all about picking the best method for you rather than having you make decisions.
    - jopt 14y ago
      And you think that principle applies well to... keyboard layouts?
      - lmm 14y ago
        Within a single language, yes. Obviously you want a different method for Chinese than for English, but I don't want to choose between six different ways of inputting Chinese.

tsahyt 14y ago

"Isn't the purpose is that there isn't anything to get?" I know what you're trying to say, but you're entering a very dangerous area here. There is no useful system, anywhere, that doesn't require some amount of understanding. Even intuition doesn't come out of nowhere. Our intuition is only based on what we've learned so far. That is why we click on things that look like buttons and that is why, when facing a steak, we intuitively "know" it's edible. In both cases the outcome may not be as expected, but that's a different story. My point is, that a system which requires no prior knowledge whatsoever and no understanding is essentially useless, because it literally couldn't do anything, for it would just be a void. I'm getting philosophical here, I know. Even the simplest of systems require a user to grok its basics to become useful.