Re: Usability abuse?

Subject: Re: Usability abuse?
From: TechComm Dood <techcommdood -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Sun, 14 Nov 2004 15:31:50 -0500


> He qualified what he said by writing: "If the way you work is broadly
> representative, and you experience problems, then many other users will
> experience similar problems--that makes you an expert in the use of the
> tool, and an expert judge of whether that tool is effective."

I challenge you to find someone who does *not* tell you that the way
they work is broadly representative of their software-using peers.
When you do find that person, then you *know* that you can trust that
the info they give you is niche-only. Everyone else you get feedback
from will be a wild card. ;-)

> Geoff didn't say that it was, and I think he clearly made the distinction,
> saying that valid user feedback can be helpful along with formal usability
> studies.

...if you know what to do with it. Most people do not.

> Again, he's not saying this is a replacement for usability studies. He's
> saying that both usability studies and individual feedback are important in
> ascertaining *actual* usability.

But that is not a correct statement. Individual feedback *can be*, but
seldom *are* the individual info bits relevent to anything but how
someone would like the product changed to their benefit.

> > And frankly, I think you're misleading writers saying they
> > can do this with no training or experience. They can't and
> > they shouldn't. We should not be encouraging inexperienced
> > writers to go sticking their noses into an area of design and
> > development that they are not qualified to do.
>
> I didn't get the impression he was promoting what you say he was.

I certainly did, which is why I also replied in opposition to Geoff's post.

> Feedback is generally not considered to be griping.

TomAto, tomAHto... It all depends on how it's presented and received.
Most customer feedback *is* griping. Not to say it's wrong for them to
provide such feedback, nor to say that all griping is not valuable,
but let's call a duck a duck here. ;-)

> > > Just state
> > > your case helpfully, as a team member, rather than
> > proclaiming from a
> > > position of overt moral superiority.
>
> Technical writers do this with great success all the time. It's very easy,
> actually.

I find that many technical writers are actually quite poor at
providing this type of feedback to their project teams. It's amazing
that someone whose job is to develop a successful message can botch
good project relationships by not considering their internal audiences
as well. Not to say this is an epidemic case, but it happens more so
than not.

> If you're documenting a product and can't find a simple feature, or driving
> an automobile and can't see out the rear window properly, you're an
> authority on using the product in your particular circumstances.

Which may or may not be relevant. If I'm using Word to create
mechanical drawings and can't find what I need to properly scale the
drawing, I'm not using the product correctly. Likewise, if I've turned
my rearview mirror into a coathanger or curio hook, I'm not using it
correctly to see out the rear window.

> If a software element is hidden or too complicated to get to, you'd be
> negligent in your job as a technical writer if you didn't mention it.

But this isn't a usability issue, per se. It might be, but it isn't
always the case.

> If a GUI issue comes to my attention that I feel needs talking about, I
> don't hesitate to ask a developer about it and explain my concerns. I've
> found that most people view questions about GUI as just another topic;
> nobody feels threatened.

All well and valid, and you should continue to do so. But, this type
of feedback isn't necessarily a replacement for or a portion of proper
usability practices. In fact, how you present this info to the team
may be counter-productive to usability goals!

> I feel it's a disservice to my client if I ignore things that may cause
> ultimate market rejection of a product. Asking never hurt anyone, and the
> notion that developers think I'm "jamming my nose" into design issues
> because I ask a question or offer an opinion that something is a bit
> difficult to find is an unjust projection onto developers of
> unreasonableness.

There's nothing wrong with that. However, please bear in mind that
there are many writers out there who work on a day to day basis not
knowing the make or break points of their market's acceptance of a
product, nor would they know good software design from bad. It's all
relative, which is why you need someone in place to keep all this in
mind and be the stop-gap for all product feedback and user testing.

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References:
Re: Usability abuse?: From: Andrew Plato

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