Mike, I will agree with you, there are so many people out there that want to get a website. But once they have it, they do not know how to keep their customers on it.
Most people think that we have heard of their product, and tells us what they think we want to know. But the reality is that if I and yes I am going to say I on this occasion, can't decide or see what a product is within the first few minutes of looking I am never likely to return again. I will pick on microsoft on this occasion, the reason being is that even when you google and find the information that you are looking for. It directs you back to Microsoft (as it is a searched article from them) only to get hit with a page not found. So what about redirection, or sorry but that page has now moved to. Sorry I use microsoft as an example, because it is more prominent there. But it is an issue that I have an extreme pet hate with, the information on the internet is there. but one has to search through all the bullshit and stuff to find what we are looking for. I do not go to the Adobe website, or even Microsofts unless I am looking for a trial product that I already know about. Because forget about going there and finding out about a product in a hurry. I think the Usability in UAT's has gone out the window when these companys don't spend that time. On Wed, May 21, 2008 at 3:24 PM, Mike Kear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Scott, it you're referring to my post in this thread, I specifcally > said that it isnt a "Microsoft is the evil empire" rant. It's about > how so many people (not just Microsoft but they're the most prominent > offender in my view) think that merely using the name of something is > enough. > > How many times have we all seen someone announce proudly that 'version > 3.2 of WIdgetSoft is now released!!" and wondered, "what the hell is > WIdgetSoft?" > > I have a machine that's groaning under the weight of around 100 > processes. It's working ok, but if i installed everything that people > wanted me to install, then I'd end up with a bazillion conflicts and a > whole lot of precious RAM used up for things i don't need. As it is, > i havent got a clue what some of those 100 processes are. I just > know that if i close some of them, things break. So I leave them > running, and trust my anti-virus to make sure they're all ok. So > my policy is 'just because someone says i need to install this, is not > good enough reason. I need to decide for myself whether i need to > install it." I remember back to the days when i had Real Audio > installed, and it kept taking charge of things and changing my > settings, installing spyware and other things. it was a thoroughly > unpleasant piece of software to have on my machine. > > And I had two calls this week from clients asking me what this > "Silverlight" thing is, and should they install it. I was hoping to > be able to call them back and say something like "yes it's ok to > install. have a look at <http://url here> and you can see for > yourself what it does". But there's no such page. The one that I > eventually found after 5 clicks to get there by the most direct route, > says things like : "Custom branded experiences using 2D vector > graphics, animation, styling, and skinning". I think i know what > that means but it's totally meaningless to my client who's a furniture > manufacturer. And the other client who makes and imports > high-performance car parts, doesnt understand the difference between > Vista and XP. Is confused about the difference between RAM and hard > drive storage. I wouldnt even try to explain it to him. It's a > pity that Microsoft didnt think any of those uses might want to know > what it is. > > Some more examples of this lack of explanation: When Windows Update > says i need to update my machine, i just get a message saying "you > have some updates" but no easy way to find out what those updates > are, and decide whether I need them. or XPPro Service Pack 3 - says > there are some feature enhancements included, but no way to find out > what those enhahcements are. (I have discovered after installing SP3 > that my Remote Desktop no longer works, so presumably the SP3 changed > something there without my knowledge or approval. I now have to > spend time tracking it down and changing whatever it is back again). > > A few years ago, I found myself on someone's mailing list and was > bombarded with stuff about an international SOA conference that was > coming up. I had never seen that term before, and nowhere did they > use the term in full, so i found myself curious as to what SOA was, > and was it some technology i needed to know about. It went on for > weeks - SOA this and SOA that - inviting people to this SOA conference > - the speakers and SOA experts speaking at the conference none of whom > i'd ever heard of. I assumed it was something in IT but no idea what > SOA was. So their entire marketing was wasted on me at least. > Perhaps they figured 'if they dont know what SOA is, they're not going > to spend thousands to come to the conference." Probably right i > suppose, but all it would have taken was a simple sentence saying what > SOA is, or maybe just spelling out the term in full once. ONCE. > Yes, I know that Google is my friend, and i could have gone looked it > up, but why should i bother. It's THEIR product. THEY are the ones > wanting me to spend my money on it. In fact if you do google "SOA", > you'll find lots of references to SOA and rarely find a single mention > of "Service Oriented Architecture". And a plain-language explanation > of that term is even more rare. > > So this isnt just a Microsoft thing. I've often seen here on > ColdFusion lists someone proudly anounce that the latest version of > their application is released, but just assuming everyone knows what > it is and what it does. I find myself frequently asking myself, "do I > care? Is that something I should know about?" More often than not, i > say 'no - cant be bothered right now." And all it would have taken > is a simple "for those that havent seen it yet, WidgetSoft is a > small, application that gets you coffee when you need it, and delivers > it to you desk 15 seconds before you think of the idea." > > Crisp, plain language that is free of marketing gobbldegook and > motherhood statements. Phrases like "gives users a richer experience" > should be banned, because every product since DOS has claimed that and > it's meaningless. > > That's all I'm saying. And I mentioned Microsoft because it was the > Silverlight download thing that prompted two clients in one morning to > ask me the same thing, when with a little bit of thought and a little > less arrogance, the marketing people who thought up such splendid > graphics on that SIlverlight page could have explained it themselves > and saved everyone a lot of trouble. It's their bloody product after > all, not mine. > > One of the great truths of motivation is 'if you want to persuade > people to do something - get their credit cards out and buy something, > change their opinions, vote for you, join your religion, install > your software - you have to paint a vivid picture of them getting the > benefits. They have to be imagining themselves better off in some way > as a result of doing what you want them to do. Confounding them with > flowery gobbledegook and motherhood statements wont do it. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "cfaussie" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cfaussie?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
