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Summary: Most folks "in the industry" have a slightly off-target view of who the average computer user is. After 4 years of Ask Leo!, I've formed an opinion. Over the course of the last four years of doing Ask Leo! I've also learned a lot about computer and technology myself. The old adage about learning something by teaching it is very, very true. But I've also learned a thing or two about you, the people trying to use computers, too. And these are things I wish a lot more people would realize and understand. People from the executives at my former employer, to some of the people that comment on my answers. The "average computer user" is not who you think. • Those of us "in the industry" are frequently afflicted with a kind of myopia or tunnel vision. We often see things the way we want them to be, or use some preconception of the way we think they are, rather than actually looking at the way things really are. Like the people that use our products. And, I must admit to being guilty myself. My perception of the average computer user has changed dramatically over the last four years. The biggest, single revelation? Most people don't want to know how things work or why things work, they just want them to work. Simple as that. The average user isn't interested in their computer. It's not a toy, it's a tool. This makes education an interesting challenge, since much of what you'd ideally like people to learn is why something behaves the way that it does, so that the "why" can be generalized to other situations. Second revelation: because of the first, people are not nearly as technically savvy as we might want them to be, or as we might believe. I'm not trying to be judgmental here, it's an observation built over the experience of the last few years. People who are searching for assistance on the web are frequently those least able to comprehend and execute the majority of answers that they find. "The average computer user is ultimately exactly
right and justified in their position. Things should just work."
My first questions on Ask Leo! were primarily those from friends, and hence a little more technical than others. It didn't take long, though, for my sense of what needed to be answered to shift to the more basic and fundamental. I now try to provide a variety, but it's still driven primarily by the volume of questions that are submitted to the site. I try to make the answers and my recommendations accessible to that average user. It's not always easy, since the products we're dealing with here aren't always designed with that average user in mind. And I do frequently hear that I'm too technical, and that I'm not technical enough. It's not an easy line to walk. For example, if a Windows product requires the average user to ever fire up the registry editor to resolve an issue, that product has failed to meet the needs of the average user. Many programs, including Windows itself, fall into this category. Similarly, if hand-editing settings in a text file is required to configure an application or make a change, then that application has similarly failed to meet the needs of the average user. Most Linux distributions fall into this category repeatedly, though some are getting better. I frequently get comments on articles here that boil down to "I don't see the problem - my mother / grandmother / toddler can do this without any issues whatsoever". If that's the case, then your mother, grandmother or toddler is decidedly not an average computer user. I'm happy for them, since they clearly have a leg up on things and that will serve them well, but to generalize their experience to the rest of the populace is, I'm finding, a very big mistake. They are the exceptions, not the rule. I don't want to make light of this; I know it's hard - damned hard in fact - to make software accessible to the masses. But that's exactly what we expect of today's vendors. In fact, it's exactly what they claim they do. Except that over and over again, they don't. The average computer user is ultimately exactly right and justified in their position. Things should just work. Things shouldn't be as hard as they often are, and explanations shouldn't assume a level of knowledge or interest that simply isn't there. But that's not where things stand. So to all of "us" in the industry: take some time to really consider whether or not you have a clear picture of what I keep calling the average computer user. I'll bet you don't, and some of your customers are suffering because of it. And to those average computer users all I can say is "hang in there". Despite frequent evidence to the contrary the industry is trying. In the mean time and in a more practical vein, the more you can bring yourself to take an interest and learn perhaps a little more than you want to, the better off you'll be. But that need is our mistake, not yours. Related:
Article 12409 | Posted May 11, 2008 |
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One thing the pc industry has had a great deal of difficulty digesting, is that the "average user" is like the average car driver. He expects to get in the car, put the key in the ignition and drive the car, any car, from any manufacturer. He doesn't give a wit about how the car works and doesn't know a connecting rod from a piston from a pinion gear,etc. What's more he doesn't want to know,doesn't have time to learn and he shouldn't have to. Until the computer industry can digest this concept, we'll continue to curse and swear and get frustrated and Leo and others like him will remain employed.
Posted by: cp gray at May 13, 2008 6:19 PMI am in the IT support industry and I have found there are two types of "average users". Those that want to learn what happened/went wrong, and then those that just want you to shut up and fix the thing.
Posted by: Volg at May 13, 2008 6:25 PMI find that by talking the user through the problem and the fix that it eventually stops the problem from happening which in turn makes the user and me happy. Unfortunately not all people want to hear about what it takes to fix the problem or to stop it from happening. There are always going to be people like this and it is something that we are just gonig to have to accept. You cant teach something to someone that is not interested.
In the CPM days I tested and fixed computers, writing assembly language code to do some of the testing.
Posted by: Ken Crook at May 13, 2008 7:59 PMAs IBM PC's came online I maintained PC's and wrote code to run simple tasks on them.
With the advent of "point and click" I moved away from what was going on inside the computers and became a "computer user".
As with all technology, as it gets more complicated we evolve from makers to users and let someone else specialize in the tasks of making and maintaining the technology.
This has been happening since prehistoric times and will continue. Once we made our own arrow heads, cured hides, weaved baskets, etc. But it became better to allocate these tasks to people who specialized in doing them. Leaving the rest of us to purse other tasks.
This is progress.?.
Having taught quite a few of how to use Word and the Internet and email, you are absolutely right- I tried showing them how to update antivirus software, adaware, etc. It's a no-go. Everything must be in the background for the non-savvy computer user- Not 'average', but non-savvy. 'Burning' backups to a disk?- forget it!
Posted by: Ezra Ben-Meir at May 13, 2008 9:51 PMI try to emphasize the importance of just reading the info on a window that pops up- another no-go.
Hear, hear! Right on as usual. I find myself wondering over and over how the average Joe or Jane ever manages to use a computer without a tecchie relative. Computers still aren't designed to be used by normal people. I'm sure that a lot of people who read your column are the free tech support / help desk for brothers, sisters, neighbors, cousins, friends, and the cubicle next door! Without these helpful gearheads, perhaps civilization would grind to a halt! That should be the next national holiday - "Appreciate your geek week!"
Posted by: Steve Burgess at May 15, 2008 8:53 AMExcellent! I've been in the computer field for over 30 years, starting with HUGE (comparatively speaking) TTL-based machines. Your observances of an 'average user' are as correct today as they would have been 'back then'. Yes..things SHOULD just work..and, as you said, that is NOT how it is.
Amen!
Posted by: Brad L. at May 15, 2008 9:41 AMEveryone I read since my last comment says the same thing - No Interest. I think we 'gearheads' have got to work on stimulating interest in our friends/relatives/clients. A computer is NEVER (in my lifetime-but I'm so old I owned an Apple and an Apple II) going to be a self-repairing, automatically operating device like TV. We have to work out a way to get people interested, even a little bit, in what's going on inside the software/hardware of THEIR computers. What do we do??
Posted by: Jack at May 18, 2008 2:45 AMBoy, do I feel encouraged reading all the comments. I feel so stupid all the time. I really want to know how my computer works, but don't even know where to begin. I don't like it, but people need a home PC now, so I have to bite the bullet and LEARN. Where do I go for a comprehensive, basic forum to learn all I need to learn about my PC? Or should I take classes? I also want to say, "Thanks for all the geeks out there who donate their time, talents and resources for helping people like me!" We really should legislate a national holiday for them!
Posted by: Rondi Phillips at May 19, 2008 8:39 AMI love this article.
Posted by: fastfreddie1959 at May 20, 2008 9:38 AMIt has taken me 7yrs almost everyday to
learn what i know about computers.
But like leo says you need to have the basic
knowledge to get by.
This is by far the best article ive ever read
on this subject.
Straight to the point.
I've often thought that the computer industry might eventually turn into a utility, which in turn provides turn-key computer services to the public as in a portal, wherein techincal issues remain behind the scenes at the utilities headquarters, wherein experts handle the technical issues, and consumers simply "use." Much like a telephone. Buy the service. The issues are handled outside. All one should have to do is "plug" in and "go." The resources of the utility would keep up with latest technology and advancements in speed, capacity, etc.
Just a dream in my happy place. I certainly respect the knowledge and genius of those with technical minds that can figure computers out.
Posted by: Mike Walker at May 20, 2008 11:06 AM