[thelist] User perception

Shawn K. Quinn skquinn at speakeasy.net
Tue Nov 16 18:58:25 CST 2004


On Monday 2004 November 15 07:14, Andreas Wahlin wrote:
> This is perhaps a bit of a philosophical question ...
> I have this form, that you log into. On the login page are
> instructions on what userid/password to use, and on the form input
> page are instructions on how to fill out the form. Still users
> mail/phone questions about how to proceed, some claiming that
> instructions are scarce, and when I say "there's the text answering
> your question", they go "oh, ok thanks".

Maybe next to the phone number or e-mail address, include text saying 
"Before phoning or e-mailing to ask a question, please be sure you have 
read the instructions completely."

> Now, is this always so? Is it impossible to make it so that everyone
> follows and read instructions? The bulk of the users seem to get
> everything just fine, but there are exceptions.

If you write the instructions clearly and as easy to read and understand 
as possible, you have done just about all you can.

My own personal experience shows people regard instruction manuals as 
expendable and then call someone like me to reprogram their TV, VCR, or 
whatever other gadget. My first request is "no problem, get me the 
instruction manual" because every brand is made differently, and is 
almost always a different brand from what I have here. The parallels to 
Web sites should be obvious.

-- 
Shawn K. Quinn


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