Re: "Teaching" wizards?

Subject: Re: "Teaching" wizards?
From: Scott Miller <smiller -at- PORTAL -dot- COM>
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 09:52:34 -0700

> <<...wizards are an effective way to help users perform tasks, but
> the wizard implementations I've seen don't really teach people
> how to perform the task without the wizard's help. Further, a wizard
> doesn't teach the underlying concept; it just steps the user through
> the task.>>
>
I've never had a problem with wizards not teaching how to accomplish a
task, or not teaching underlying concepts. If the wizard does the job,
that's all I need. If I need to go beyond the wizard, then I learn how
to do so, but I'm no worse off than if the wizard wasn't there in the
first place.

I think that worrying about teaching people is only a concern from a
writer's viewpoint. We feel compelled to do so. But from the user's
perspective, having to learn something is an obstruction to getting
their work done.

- Scott Miller
smiller -at- portal -dot- com

From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=




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