RE: Checking assumptions at the door (but NOT he vs she!)

[Christine -dot- Anameier -at- seagate -dot- com]

Kent Christensen wrote: << Seems to me that if your software requires
Windows 98, or something, then ability to run Windows 98 is a prerequisite
and not to worry.  Either the user read up on how to use Windows 98 or
someone helped him or her and it can be assumed these same
resources--ability to read or a helper--are available for understanding
your product's instructions.>>

I have to disagree with Kent on this. Realistically, an awful lot of end
users know very little about running Windows. They can find the Start
button and use the mouse, but if they need to do anything more advanced,
some of them will need help. And that's our job. Otherwise we get swamped
with support calls or the users interrupt each other's work to ask "what
does X mean?"

I am continually surprised at the things users don't know: how to minimize
a window and then find it on the taskbar; how to use Windows Explorer; how
to select text in a web browser by dragging the mouse; how to change
options/preferences in a web browser; how to scroll faster in Word by
holding down the mouse button instead of clicking repeatedly on the down
arrow... And they're too busy doing their jobs to go take a Windows class.

In my first TW job I was working on an installation guide for a product
that was *supposed* to be installed by IT people, but which (according to
the folks who actually talked to the users) was more often installed by
beleaguered managers who didn't have the organizational clout to get an IT
person over there to install it. One part of the existing guide directed
them to "create a shortcut in the Startup menu" and left it at that. I had
to fight hard for approval to add a brief procedure explaining how to do
that. I walked around and took an informal survey, and found that *nobody*
knew how to create a shortcut in the Startup menu--including the people we
had doing installation support for the users. Several people said they
would have to look it up in their Windows manuals, and then added that they
had no idea where those manuals actually were.

We may think they should know how to use Windows, but what they *should*
know and what they *do* know are two different things. I think we need to
meet them where they are. If we have evidence that our assumptions about
their expertise are overly optimistic, then we should adjust our approach
accordingly.

</soapbox>

Christine

(obligatory disclaimer: my opinions, not necessarily those of my employer
or past employers)




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*** Deva(tm) Tools for Dreamweaver and Deva(tm) Search ***
Build Contents, Indexes, and Search for Web Sites and Help Systems
Available now at http://www.devahelp.com or info -at- devahelp -dot- com

Sponsored by Cub Lea, specialist in low-cost outsourced development
and documentation. Overload and time-sensitive jobs at exceptional
rates. Unique free gifts for all visitors to http://www.cublea.com

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.