[comp.society] Making Computers "Friendly"

curt@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca (Curt Sampson) (04/08/91)

Doug Gwyn wrote:

> The idea that an arbitrary naive human should be able to properly use 
> a given tool without training or understanding is even more wrong for 
> computing than it is for other tools.

I agree completely.  A computer is possibly the most sophisticated
tool ever invented by man.  It seems to me that it's acceptable to
take several weeks to learn how to drive a car, but many people belive
that one should be able to start using a computer right away.
Unfortunately, a computer requires some preparation and some work
before it can be effectively used.

I am reminded of a company that I used to do some consulting work for.
The managers figured that compters in the office were a great thing,
and they wanted to buy several more.  When I tried to actually find
out what they wanted to use them *for* it was very difficult to get a
clear answer.  They knew that they wanted to apply computers to their
tasks, but didn't know what tasks they wanted to accomplish, much less
whether or not they needed a computer to do it with.

At one point they managed to get ahold of a copy of MacProject,
thinking that it would manage their projects for them.  The first
thing they did, of course, was boot it up and start playing.  I tried
to explain to them that there are many hours, if not days, of work
involved in defining even a small project before you touch MacProject,
but the message didn't get though.  After all, spending time
generating data worth putting in to a computer just doesn't give you
instant gratification, does it?

Design decisions can affect the ease of use of computers in unforseen
ways, too.  I can put together batch files on an "unfriendly" MS-DOS
or Unix machine that will enable somebody to send a fax to everyone on
a mailing list quickly and easily.  On the "easy to use" Mac without
that horrible unfriendly command line interface, I end up having to
spend far longer training people to deal with the various options of
the fax program directly.  

Let's face it: if you want sophistication and power, you're going to
end up with a significant learning curve.  Much of that learning curve
will be for the job itself.  Adding pull-down menus to a desktop
publishing package will not help the user if s/he doesn't know what
leading or kerning is.  If you don't know how to do a job, a computer
can't do it for you.

I've directed followups to comp.society, since this has little to do
with Unix wizardry.

Curt Sampson