RE: What Are the Main Problems You Have with MS Word?

["Dan Hall" <dhall -at- san-carlos -dot- rms -dot- slb -dot- com>]

Martin Soderstrom wrote:

"Microsoft spends a =LOT= of money on demographics.  
The problem in this case is the average user of Word 
is plug-dumb."

I agree... sort of.

Alan Cooper (an interface design guru) suggests that
most software is designed for the "beginner user" - 
that is, for the ease of use of the novice. Why? 
Because "usability testing" must _always_ be skewed
towards users who have relatively little experience
with the interface. So most consume software products
are designed with Martin's "plug-dumb" user in mind,
not because the majority of Word users are in some
way idiots, but because the _research_ MS does is
badly skewed.

A better choice would be to design interfaces for 
intermediate users, since most users remain raw
beginners for a relatively short time and only a 
small number of users will ever reach "power-user"
status.

The "personalized menus" are a (horrifying) example
of the current state of usability thinking at MS.
How can a user _ever_ become proficient with a tool
if the menus are changing all the time? What if you 
got in your car each morning and had to figure out
which pedal was  which? What if some days the clutch
was on the right and the accelerator was in the
center?

But, new users (doing usability testing for MS) find 
things more quickly when only the "frequently used" 
menus are shown, so the feature gets implemented.

It's egregious.

Dan 

Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. 
That is the only secret of style.  - Matthew Arnold  

 


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