[Discuss] Its not possible to make things easier for users

[markw at mohawksoft.com (Mark Woodward)]

On 01/14/2013 03:50 PM, Daniel C. wrote:
> On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 3:35 PM, Mark Woodward <markw at mohawksoft.com> wrote:
>> This is exactly why you can't help users. User's do not know what they do
>> not know and somehow expect the world to take care of them.
>>
>> Even Apple is getting spanked for being too simple. More people use android
>> than iPhone.
> The Android is just as simple to use as an iPhone, to be honest.  Even
> my girlfriend (who is wonderful, but simply cannot use a computer to
> save her life) has had success with her Android.
>
> Your thesis (that you can't help users because the world is just too
> complicated) is confounded daily by the billions of people who spend
> their lives interacting successfully with phenomenally complex systems
> and devices despite not understanding their inner workings.  Do you
> make allowances for that somehow?  Is software fundamentally different
> from other things?  If so, why?
>
> I agree with you that making "slick" user interfaces for software is a
> serious problem.  Howerver, you seem to be saying that the problem is
> fundamentally intractable which I think is overstating your case.

The problem is that the world and all the things in it are complex. 
Almost anyone with OK health can climb a small mountain, everest, on the 
other hand, not so much.

I alluded to the notion that things are as simple as they can be without 
changing the nature of what the thing is that you wish to do. Images, 
songs, videos, etc. each embody a knowledge set. For a very limited 
range of options, simple defaults may suffice. For anything out of the 
ordinary, the drive for simplicity makes tasks more difficult.

You do not need to know how a car works to know that you need premium 
gas, just read the owners manual. If, however, you do not wish to buy 
premium gas, it becomes an expert level option.

> -Dan
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