Re: What *is* user friendly

[Nancy Hayes <nancyh -at- PMAFIRE -dot- INEL -dot- GOV>]

>I agree you have to know your audience, understand your product, and
>understand the relationship between the two. If that analysis results in
>cutsie icons littering my pages, I suppose I'll have to submit.

My only problem w/ cutsie little icons is when they slow the process
down.  Case in point:  I have WP Presentation DOS on my 486/33 computer at
work.  No problem w/ the printer.  I had WP Presentations for Windows on
my other work machine (a souped up 386).  PRwin has this incredibly cute
little icon of a printer scrolling paper to let the user know that the
computer is printing the file.  Granted, it may not be the cute little
icon's fault that the printing takes three times as long from the Win
version of the program as from the DOS, but it definately adds to the
annoyance factor.  At least w/ the little colored bar, you know if the
thing is making actual progress instead of worrying if it's stuck in a
do-loop.

Take this w/ a grain of salt, though.  My opinion of Windows products in
general is that it's the computer world's verision of the New Coke.
Remember that little disaster.  It tasted like a cross between Pepsi and
Coke.  The Coke drinkers hated it because it tasted like Pepsi, and the
Pepsi drinkers hated it because it tasted like =watered down= Pepsi.
Same w/ Windows.  Most Mac users I've talked to think it's slow and
clunky because it's trying to imitate Mac's environment; most DOS users I
know don't like it because it slows the process down w/ all the bells and
whistles.

Nancy Lynn Hayes (nancyh -at- pmafire -dot- inel -dot- gov)                Carpe Diem
                                                        Seize the Day!