I'm wondering if I'm the only one on this list who got an OLPC for his kid and is just letting the kid go with it?
Context: my kid is seven, and definitely above average in conventional intelligence, reading/literacy metrics, and is reasonably well experienced with conventional PCs, including both browser- and desktop-based age-appropriate software. He adores his OLPC. Even though he hasn't managed to connect it up yet with anyone else. Even though it's slow (he noticed that) and sometimes frustrating (particularly opaque in respect to connecting to conventional wireless networks). He's using it to take pictures of everything. And play music. The other morning he was all eager to show us the music video he and his (four year old) brother created with it. I didn't even know it could do that. He's found the simplistic math games (he's well beyond that in skill level) and he's found the python interface (I think I managed to keep a mostly straight face when he showed me that - I'm not even saying the word "programming" to him). I'm doing my best to let him be him and do things in as natural a way as he can (though I still insist he do his schoolwork first). So what do I make of this? I think we're using the wrong yardsticks. Jakob be damned, usability is NOT universal. The difference between zero and one is much much bigger than the difference between one and two. Sure, I can think of ways that the UI could be clearer. The how-to-get-started two-pager that came in the box was just downright awful. I had to look online to figure out how to get it hooked up to my uncle's Apple Airport; once it did that I showed my boy the news feeds. Pictures he liked, the rest he was bored with in about 2 minutes. Who cares about the proficiency of the usability techniques of the UI if the users are bored? Given the constraints and the goals of the OLPC project I think they've done a pretty good job and I'm betting they have a lot of success with their target audience. Which is, I assure you, is absolutely no one reading this mailing list. It's not even my seven-year-old, though he's much closer to the target population than I am. He's exploring and learning and finding things I didn't find because that's his way of interacting. He doesn't want manuals - wouldn't read them if he had them - and instructions just bore him. He wants to poke and prod and play and if the machine gets into some state he doesn't understand or can't figure out how to get out of then he might ask for some help. Mostly though he just plays with it some more until he figures it out. If he had other kids around him they'd all be poking and prodding and sharing knowledge in ways that make our usual one-person-one-machine notion of computer interaction outmoded. The last time I saw a usability evaluation that had any relationship to what I'm seeing now it was done by Amy Bruckman and her team on the kids MOO she created. (Google MediaMOO and MOOSE Crossing if you want to read about that.) So while it's nice to go on about "standards" I think it's important to realize we are using the wrong standards of measurement here. It's like trying to measure the thrill of a motorcycle's acceleration with a slide rule and calipers. We have expectations and associations that just aren't relevant. My boy knows what standard PCs are like and what they do and he doesn't find anything to complain about here (trust me, he's not shy about complaining when he finds something that doesn't meet his standards). I can't wait until he has other OLPCs in his local neighborhood. ________________________________________________________________ *Come to IxDA Interaction08 | Savannah* February 8-10, 2008 in Savannah, GA, USA Register today: http://interaction08.ixda.org/ ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
