This can't help but make me remember - You try to make things idiot proof, you just get a better idiot.
On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 9:23 AM, McKown, John <john.mck...@healthmarkets.com>wrote: > This is not really about IBM mainframes. But it is, in a sense, about > computing in general. And, perhaps, why mainframes are viewed as archaic. > This is a slashdot article. The person appears to be asking a serious > question. But, how stupid should computer users be allowed to become? > > > http://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/03/01/132219/How-Do-You-Get-Users-To-Read-Error-Messages?art_pos=1 > > <quote> > "The longer I do desktop support, the more it becomes obvious that my users > don't read anything that appears on their screen. Instead, they memorize a > series of buttons to press to get whatever result they want and if anything > unexpected happens, they're completely lost. Error logs help a lot, but they > have their limits. I've been toying with a few ideas, but I don't know if > any of them will work and I was hoping my fellow Slashdotters could point me > in the right direction. For example, I was thinking about creating icons or > logos to identify specific errors. They might not remember that an error > about "uninitialized data" but they might be more able to remember that they > got the "puppy error" if I showed a puppy picture next to the error message. > Or for times when finding images is too time consuming, you could create > simple logos from letters, numbers, symbols, colors or shapes, so you could > have the "red 5" error or "blue square" error (or any combination of those > elements). I've even wondered if it would be possible to expand that to > cover the other senses, for example, playing a unique sound with the error. > Unfortunately, haptic and olfactory feedback aren't readily available. I > like to think that my users would remember the error that caused them to get > a swift kick in the balls. And if they forgot it anyhow, I could always help > them reproduce it. Does anyone else have experience with ideas like these? > Did it work?" > </quote> > > John McKown > Systems Engineer IV > IT > > Administrative Services Group > > HealthMarkets(r) > > 9151 Boulevard 26 * N. Richland Hills * TX 76010 > (817) 255-3225 phone * (817)-961-6183 cell > john.mck...@healthmarkets.com * www.HealthMarkets.com > > Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message may contain confidential or > proprietary information. If you are not the intended recipient, please > contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original > message. HealthMarkets(r) is the brand name for products underwritten and > issued by the insurance subsidiaries of HealthMarkets, Inc. -The Chesapeake > Life Insurance Company(r), Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of > TennesseeSM and The MEGA Life and Health Insurance Company.SM > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO > Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html > -- Mark Pace Mainline Information Systems 1700 Summit Lake Drive Tallahassee, FL. 32317 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
