[thelist] User perception
Sarah Sweeney
mr.sanders at designshift.com
Mon Nov 15 13:41:05 CST 2004
> Hence, If I'm told I don't have an account my first reaction would be
> "ok how can I create one then?" It's possible this is a learned
> behaviour - it's that way on practically every other site, so people
> expect it to be that way on yours too.
I would agree with you if this site were like "practically every other
site", but it is not. It is the site of a very large NGO, where only
authorized individual may post official content. Once in a while guests
are encouraged to contribute, but not on a regular basis. And not once
has anyone said, "I would like an account." They just try to log in and
a surprised when they are told they don't have an account. Do you often
try to login to sites where you do not have an account?
> The short answer, though, is that your system may simply be suffering
> from a poor choice of terminology which the blink tag or other such
> strong-handed tactics won't solve.
Unfortunately I can't show you the login form; if I could I'm sure it
would be obvious that this is just a case of people not bothering to
read the brief and clear instructions provided.
I agree that unusable forms are very common, but I think users being too
lazy (or whatever you want to call it) to read instructions is probably
even more common. I'm one of them - I don't know how many times I've
installed a program and just clicked Next, Next, Next without reading
each screen in detail... But I would not bother to email tech support
for the program without taking the time to read the instructions
carefully to make sure the problem was not something I had done or
failed to do.
--
Sarah Sweeney :: Web Developer & Programmer
Portfolio :: http://sarah.designshift.com
Blog :: http://hardedge.ca
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