[thelist] RE: user perception
ANDREA STREIGHT
astreight at msn.com
Mon Nov 15 16:25:16 CST 2004
Hold on one dang minute please!
WRONG: "users are dumb, lazy, inattentive"
That's only true for certain segments of users and newbies.
RIGHT: "users are impatient, in a hurry, easily distracted, easily
frustrated"
Users generally don't come to your wonderful site in a leisurely, laid back,
casual mood, with their minds sharp and their focus clear. They often have
workplace distractions, homeplace distractions, personal problems, and
various levels of computer savvy.
Big Reality = users are IN A BIG HURRY. They don't have time to wait 15
seconds for the microwave to zap a bowl of macaroni and cheese, so what
makes you think they have all the time in the world to figure out your
idiosyncratic web site?
Users are impatient. They have other things they'd rather be doing than
mucking around with your registration/log in procedures.
And yes, some users are very dumb. So are some automobile drivers, parents,
and politicians, but that dumbness is something we must deal with and build
anti-dumb aspects into our systems.
PLUS: Users spend more time at other sites than at yours. This is a Jakob
Nielsen law of user reality. Your site must not be radically different from
the high traffic sites that train users to expect certain functionalities
and locations and navigations.
As a writer, I've noticed certain textual failures in various online
instructions.
As a technical writer, I had to learn an important principle: don't leave
out the preliminary steps. Many instructions begin with Step #3, assuming
that the user has enough sense and skill to have already automatically
performed the "obvious" prelims.
For example: How to Change Your IE Setttings: Tools > Internet Options >
Advanced > Search from the Address Bar > Do Not Search from the Address Bar.
Do you see what's wrong with that instruction? If you don't notice it right
away, you're too trapped in techland. You need to put on your Typical User
Goggles.
It should say: Start > Internet Explorer > Tools > (etc. as above)
To think the first two steps are painfully obvious is a natural but
prejudiced judgement. These first two steps are not obvious to every person
in the world.
Steven Streight
Web Usability Analyst/Web Artist
astreight at msn.com
vaspersthegrate at yahoo.com
www.vaspersthegrate.blogspot.com
www.streightsite.blogspot.com
www.arttestexplosion.blogspot.com
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