If you can't see what I'm getting at, you've obviously never been on the receiving end of endless phone calls. When systems get easy enough ALMOST to use without a manual, people will only read the manual if you superglue it to their eyes and tie their arms behind their backs. In essence, configuration is the only thing stopping programs like Launchpad from being 'use it out of the box'. And as it was the first step which was the likeliest problem, this seemed like the best solution and it worked on the whole.Launchpad is less ambitious a project than QDT but you'd be amazed how many people have managed to make a total mess of it. I went as far as to supply it deliberately misconfigured so that people would have to read the instructions as I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to use it without instructions (Launchpad doesn't work when you get it unless you read how to configure it).
Umm ... I know what you are implying here. Yet probably not a good approach to take as you really want people to be able to use it as readily as possible, with a few problems as possible; and not have to do a lot of figuring out for themselves.
Remember that other WIMP ( Windows / Icons / Mouse / Pointer ) environments just appear ready to use on other systems to the user. No 'sweat' involved ... :-)Until you get non-technical people involved. As soon as they want to do different things it's grab an expert and make him/her sweat instead.
The approach I took with Launchpad was inspired by Geoff Wicks - the "Quickstart Guide". By and large, if you've read Geoff's little Quickstart guides you won't go far wrong with his software, which is what I was trying to achieve. The only real potential problem with Launchpad is the "first step", i.e. "where am I installed and where are my setup files". Once it's set up with the correct path name for where you placed it on your hard disk it's pretty well fire it up, feel your way and only resort to manuals when you get stuck. As I recall, you didn't get many problems beyond things like the changing of resolutions and colour depths which was a bit naughty of me anyway.
The Quick start guides are probably the best way with modern programs, most manufacturers issue them now. The big manual with my Epson 880 printer is pretty useless, the Quick start guide is excellent. One the whole, people want to use it out of the box and resort ot manuals only when the going gets tough. Like the little CD-alarm-clock-radio I got for Christmas, I was able to plug it in and go as far as listening to the radio, setting the time and playing a CD went, and got the 4 page manual out for setting the alarms and setting up playlist programs to play tracks in different orders. Not quite the same order of things as complex computer software like Windows, RISC OS, SMSQ?E and QDT i suppose, but you get my drift I hope.
-- Dilwyn Jones
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