How about a different explanation.. the user interface isn't so well
designed? If it is meant to be used by common people, and the users have to
constantly refer to the manual or re-ask a question, then that is usually a
very good sign of a badly designed user interface. It implies that they
need to remember things that are not normally a part of their daily lives
(including their job).
I hadn't thought about it until now (thanks Douglas), but using that
measure, film packaging is a broken user interface. One needed to memorize
some arcane piece of knowledge (the ISO number), or have some amount of
education in order to select the proper film. If one is a photographer that
uses that information almost daily, then yes, it is appropriate to expect
them to learn and memorize it. However, if that person is not a
photographer, and (for example) just wants to take snaps of their children
to remember them by when they are older, then it is a broken user interface
to ask them to memorize or learn such stuff.
If I saw a piece of computer software with the same attributes -- one that
required its users to remember or learn something they have no other use
for, and only infrequent use for at best -- it would be a no-brainer to
conclude that the program could have used a better user interface.
So, I put forth that Kodak isn't so much contributing to the dumbing down
of America, as merely fixing a user interface flaw in their packaging.
Douglas E Harmon wrote:
> This could be why no one reads the fancy little manual we typed up for
>our Point of Sale system at work. I get countless questions from people who
>REFUSE to RTFM. I sometimes repeat the same answer to the same person
>multiple times. Sigh.....
later,
patbob ([EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED])
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