On 12/7/2010 6:24 AM, samuel ernst-fortin wrote: > Bill, > FWIW: my background is EE with a minor in Industrial Psych (specifically Human > Factors / Ergonomics / Usability Engineering). One book which resonated with > me > as an engineer is "Psychology of Everyday Things". In it, the author discusses > mental models, and those of the developer vs. those of the user. When those > mental models fail to intersect or the mental model of the user is inaccurate > (both will often be the case with a complex system) - you have the problem > being > described by the various users here. > > This is a field of study that gets a lot of attention in the Aviation > community > with Flight Management Systems and highly complicated flight deck automation. > > To be more terse and to this point: the mental model of the developers as to > how > the K3 rig features are designed to work and be operated for maximum > performance > hasn't been effectively communicated or fostered in the user community. This > is > not a situation specific to the K3 of course. In some respects the rig's > features drives the operators actions instead of the other way around... and > people are fumbling around with them till they seem to get something that > "works". > > Luckily, this situation can be cured. A K3 is no Boeing 787 Flight Management > System. > > As to "nobody reads books", while I think this is true of some segment of the > population (in engineering school - I knew many people who never read their > textbooks... turned in pristine books as used)... I still have mine and often > refer to them at home and at work - that "model" doesn't accurately describe > the > HAM community as a whole. > > > Personally, I like and will forever prefer books, where I can hold it or put > it > down, annotate and dog-ear and mark and flag pages, navigate it as I wish and > see the totality of the topic subject matter, gauge it by it's physical > dimensions. I don't find the "massively hyper-linked, ever-changing, > fragmented > and presented in many silly windows" means of communicating technical > information nearly as effective. > > I prefer books. :) > Sam, KJ4VPI > > >
For those in a decision making position on a product line, the thought of more sales would be most welcome. How many HAMs have not wanted to buy a K3, for example, because it is too complicated? Now there is a challenge. The K3 is complicated and those would-be buyers are correct in their assessment. Now enter a really outstanding tech writer. Some who who has the knack and a sense of what is needed in a document to compel the reader to try the product. The user manual is available to anyone who wants to download it from the web – a wise marketing tool. If the user manual was well enough done, a would-be HAM would learn how the product works, in detail, and enjoy the process of learning about that product. The current K3 user manual is more of a reference manual. It is compact and efficient in presenting information without the inefficiency of examples and explanation. A user manual would be much more than that and would have the luxury of including examples and comparisons of different settings with explanations of how and why a feature works the way it does. I can believe that at least 250 more K3s would be sold if there was a good K3 user manual and other marketing documentation (user useful material). If my calculator is correct, that would be on the order of $1,000,000 in additional sales. Now if I were in that decision making position , I surely would sit up and do more than take notice. Don, N0YE ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
