Re: Distribution of user skills

From	Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca>
Newsgroups	comp.misc
Subject	Re: Distribution of user skills
Date	2016-12-06 10:04 -0500
Organization	National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Message-ID	<alpine.LNX.2.02.1612061002030.11768@darkstar.example.org> (permalink)
References	<o2698p$g1p$1@solani.org> <eanq5mFbb6sU1@mid.individual.net> <o26cai$sb5$1@dont-email.me>

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On Tue, 6 Dec 2016, Rich wrote:

> Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> wrote:
>> On 2016-12-06, RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> wrote:
>>> https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/
>>
>> Anyone who actually sits with the users they support rapidly becomes
>> familiar with the phrases "How did you do *that*?" and "I didn't
>> know it could *that*!"
>>
>> TBH, much of the blame comes down to the total absence of training
>> for the vast majority of computing end-users.
>
> And, even when present, the training often amounts to little more than:
>
>  If you put this pointy thing there, then push this button on the soap
>  bar, then slide the pointy thing down here and push this other button
>  on the soap bar, then you'll do X.
>
>> And I put that largely down to the laughable application of the term
>> "intuitive".  Yeah.  Right.
>
> Nothing about computers is "intuitive" in the sense that someone with
> zero background can come up to speed without some help somewhere.
>
> What GUI's provide, rather than "intuitive" interfaces, is interfaces
> that are easier to memorize for most users because they are picture
> based rather than "conversational" text based.
>
>
About 1990 a friend got a Mac Plus and she wanted some help.  So she'd say 
"how do I do this..." and I wasn't sure, so I went to the menu of about 
the right category, and then found the thing.  And she'd complain "I want 
to do it". But I didn't know until I did it.  So yes, the GUI gives a 
template to finding things, but she could have just as easily done it 
herself.

I suspect at this point that most people have had familiarity with GUIs 
somewhere along the way, so even if they don't know specifics, they have a 
general method of approaching a new computer.

   Michael

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Distribution of user skills RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2016-12-06 07:00 -0500
  Re: Distribution of user skills Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2016-12-06 12:44 +0000
    Re: Distribution of user skills Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2016-12-06 12:52 +0000
      Re: Distribution of user skills Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-12-06 10:04 -0500
      Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-06 18:39 -0400
      Re: Distribution of user skills Adrian Caspersz <email@here.invalid> - 2016-12-07 11:35 +0000
  Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-06 18:23 -0400
    Re: Distribution of user skills Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2016-12-06 22:26 +0000
      Re: Distribution of user skills Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2016-12-06 22:46 +0000
        Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-07 03:06 -0400
          Re: Distribution of user skills Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2016-12-07 11:00 +0000
            Re: Distribution of user skills Bob Eager <news0006@eager.cx> - 2016-12-07 15:52 +0000
          Re: Distribution of user skills Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-12-07 11:57 -0500
            Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-07 14:01 -0400
              Re: Distribution of user skills Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-12-07 14:53 -0500
            Re: Distribution of user skills Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2016-12-07 23:36 +0000
          Re: Distribution of user skills Jerry Peters <jerry@example.invalid> - 2016-12-07 21:13 +0000
            Re: Distribution of user skills "Kerr Mudd-John" <admin@127.0.0.1> - 2016-12-08 12:12 +0000
              Re: Distribution of user skills Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2016-12-08 12:16 +0000
      Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-07 02:53 -0400
        Re: Distribution of user skills Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2016-12-07 11:05 +0000
          Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-07 16:12 -0400
            Re: Distribution of user skills Bob Eager <news0006@eager.cx> - 2016-12-07 21:20 +0000
              Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-08 15:02 -0400
            Re: Distribution of user skills Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2016-12-07 23:31 +0000
            Re: Distribution of user skills Kees Nuyt <k.nuyt@nospam.demon.nl> - 2016-12-08 10:42 +0100
              Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-08 15:27 -0400
                Re: Distribution of user skills "Kerr Mudd-John" <admin@127.0.0.1> - 2016-12-08 21:00 +0000
                Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-09 03:22 -0400
                Re: Distribution of user skills Adrian Caspersz <email@here.invalid> - 2016-12-09 09:53 +0000
                Re: Distribution of user skills Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2016-12-10 04:00 -0400
                Re: Distribution of user skills Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-12-10 22:34 -0500
  Re: Distribution of user skills Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2016-12-07 12:52 +1100
    Re: Distribution of user skills "Andy K." <andy.k466@gmail.com> - 2016-12-07 08:26 +0100
      Re: Distribution of user skills Adrian Caspersz <email@here.invalid> - 2016-12-07 11:40 +0000
        Re: Distribution of user skills Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2016-12-07 20:32 +0000

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