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Subject:Assuming too much responsibility From:Roy Jacobsen <rjacobse -at- GreatPlains -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 9 Nov 2000 14:20:47 -0600
We can't assume someone else's responsibility, no matter how much we wish we
could. When we're creating the documentation or the UI for something, we do
have the responsibility to make it as clear, complete and correct as we
possibly can. But we cannot assume the user's responsibility to use our
product correctly. We can't be responsible if someone is too embarrassed or
whatever to admit they're having trouble and ask for help.
If the user screws up because WE screwed up and failed to correct it, that
is our problem.
If the user screws up because HE screwed up and is unwilling to admit it and
try to correct it, that is HIS problem.
Granted, in many cases, it can be hard to tell where the fault is. Often, it
is shared.
Roy M. Jacobsen
Senior Editor
Great Plains
1701 38th Street Southwest
Fargo, ND 58103
USA
"Getting back down counts too." -- Sir Edmund Hillary (on climbing Mt.
Everest)
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Martin [mailto:twriter -at- mindspring -dot- com]
>Those expectations are unrealistic. Tied into the communications aspect of
>this (Tom Brokaw made the same point this morning, that people, if
confused,
>could have stepped out of the voting booth and asked) is the psychological
>aspect. While not directly related to the cognitive psychology areas that
>bear on technical communication, how many people would, for example, simply
>feel too embarrassed to walk in the booth, then walk out and ask someone
for
>help? There is a strong streak of independence in many people, a thought
>that "I should be able to do it myself." (Raise you hand if you've ever
done
>that yourself, with anything. Hmmm....I just took this new VCR out of the
>box. I can connect all the cable and set it up without reading the manual.)
>There could also be embarrassment that one made a mistake, as in the cases
>of the twice-punched ballots, with a compounding thought that "this one one
>make any difference anyway." Because you *can* go get another ballot does
>not mean that someone *will."
>
>
>People "should" read the manuals and Help that we develop for our products,
>but do they? Beware expectations, especially of human beings.
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