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emartinho wrote: Can someone tell me why, when you tell users to do things like:
< sarcastic deer in headlight >
Well no I can't, as I'm not a techie/compter expert...
< /sarcastic deer in headlight >
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< Pulls out a shotgun and fires >
DIE! 
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you forgot to close your tag, you have now broken the internet
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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It is embedded in HTML, and should work on IE6...
Never moon a werewolf.
- Harvey
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< /Pulls out a shotgun and fires >
Fixed 
Edit: the closing tag disappeared the first time, ist really broke
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
}
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The Internet will forever know of the shotgun that took 44 minutes to pull out and fire.
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Maybe a few screenshots in written instructions would help?
emartinho wrote: When the mechanic tells them to check their oil in their car, do they say "well I'm not a mechanic/car expert"?
Yes, many people would answer that way. The key is to know your audience/users. IMHO, users are not the bane of our existence, they're the reason we have jobs. 
/ravi
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Absolutely!
If they don't understand what you are telling them to do, you are saying it wrong.
Never underestimate the power of stupid things in large numbers
--- Serious Sam
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Not usually. Techies are just too fast most of the time. Like when you press anything with WinKey or FX and they turn all deer-faced.
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That isn't their problem - that's ours!
If we don't explain it well enough (and that includes speed of delivery) then it is our fault. If you bought a washing machine and couldn't work out how to set it to "spin only", but the sales droid went so fast you couldn't follow it whose fault would that be? And most software is orders of magnitude more complex than a washing machine...
We have a responsibility to users to ensure that we explain things in ways they understand.
Never underestimate the power of stupid things in large numbers
--- Serious Sam
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I blame it on the difference in caffeine intake, since it's not politically correct to blame anyone now, except Society.
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I personally liked the fifth Niven's Laws (from Known Space)
Seemed very relevant to a tech/user interface. (Yes, stories works too.)
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Best answer my friend. 
It was broke, so I fixed it.
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Thank you, Mr Les Paul. 
/ravi
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emartinho wrote: When the mechanic tells them to check their oil in their car, do they say "well I'm not a mechanic/car expert"?
Yes, they do!
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I once saw a bumper sticker that said "Users are Losers!", and I thought, "Ain't that the truth". Then I realized it probably wasn't talking about computer users. 
-NP
Never underestimate the creativity of the end-user.
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I remember the old "If General Motors had a help desk" schtick. One that has always stuck with me:
GM: You've reached the GM help desk. This is John, how can I help?
User: I just got one of your cars, and I can't get it started!
GM: What have you done so far?
User: (Gives rambling 5 minute story involving a shotgun, a case of beer, and a feral cat.)
GM: Ok, I think I see your problem. First, sit in the driver seat, behind the wheel. Then put the key into the ignition. Put your right foot on the brake and turn the key forward until the engine turns on....
User: Wait, wait! Key? Ignition? Brake? Why do I need this technical jargon to use your product? Other clips include the user who ran out of gas and complained about needing to keep paying out good money to use the car, and the guy who wrapped his car around a tree and demanded that the manufacturer either fix it or give him -- for free, of course -- a version that doesn't crash.
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I always explain it thusly:
The User Is The Enemy
After all, we all learn to code defensively - and one need only defend against ones enemies.
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Short and good text formatting; I'm now required to agree by Laws of the Interblag #4150.
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Lusers gonna luse.
emartinho wrote: When the mechanic tells them to check their oil in their car, do they say "well I'm not a mechanic/car expert"?
It's not actually like that, though. Who the heck checks their own oil? That's what you're paying the mechanic for.
It's as if the mechanic had to clean the windshield and then tells the owner "you know you can press this button to get some wiper fluid, right?" and owner would say "huh no, I don't know and I don't want to know".
You know, absolute basic stuff that you have no excuse not to know if you've ever driven a car / used a computer.
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If a mechanic told me to change my oil by:
1. take the pan for the old oil, crawl under the car, and place the pan under the oil-release valve
2. then: crawl-out, and turn off the engine
3. then: crawl back under the car, and open the oil-release valve
I might well say to her: "I'm not really a mechanic, you know."
“There are obvious things, and there are many obvious things no one tried, because no one needed to try them.” Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov, January 1, 2014
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