Newsgroups: bit.listserv.pacs-l
Date:         Fri, 14 Aug 1992 09:07:08 CDT
From:         Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS@UHUPVM1.BITNET>
Subject:      Casual Instructions

2 Messages, 94 Lines
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From: HILL_J@CUBLDR.Colorado.EDU
Subject: Re: Casual instructions

When I was a Freshman in college, I took a 200-level calculus course
(BIG mistake), with an orange textbook whose author has faded from my
mind with the passage of time.  The author had the annoying habit of
putting proofs in the book with steps 1,2,3,4,27,28, and 29, followed by
the line "The intervening steps are intuitively obvious".

Sure.  Not to me.  I passed the course, but barely, and several years later
met my to be (and still) husband, who said, in the course of a conversation
"The intervening steps are intuitively obvious".  We immediately had
something in common.  He also had not had an intuition that matched the
author's.

The point is that what is intuitively obvious to one person may be deep
murk to another.

Even if we are talking about things not as aggravating (to me) as calculus
proofs, but are instead talking about online catalog interfaces, and what
steps or commands might be understood "intuitively" by just about anybody,
we ought to think AT LEAST twice.  I have used systems that purported to
need few if any instructions, becuase their use was intuitively obvious.

Well, maybe to the person who programmed it.  But to someone who started
out using some OTHER system, and got used (no matter how subconsciously)
to ITS logic, things may not be intuitive at all.

Anyone who has used more than one word processor can attest probably still
has some "translation" difficulties in using their current system, because
they learned some other logic first.  Moving from ETC (a mainframe system
called Extended Text Compositor) to Wordstar to Wordperfect, I STILL find
some of Wordstar's approaches to be screwy -- because they are so
different from what I learned first (not necessarily because they are
screwy).

Thinking we can guess where someone else's intuition may lead them is
the height of arrogance.

        - janet swan hill
          univ of colo, bldr
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From: Corey Murata <coreym@uhunix.BITNET>
Subject: Re: Casual instructions

[stuff deleted]
>to use some of these products, they will never use them.  But if they see
>that by playing around with the system and READING THE ON-SCREEN
>INSTRUCTIONS (never a simple task, alas) they can learn to navigate quite
>well, or at least to a certain plateau where a detailed manual would begin
>to make sense, then we can concentrate on the individual instructional
>sessions on advanced topics and leave the intros to the users themselves.

>Julius Ariail, Director of Libraries  solibja@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu

I agree with you basic premise that menus/instructions/help screens can
provide enough information to 'teach' a person to navigate through the
system, after all, that's how I learn to use a new system. There are,
however, some external factors that need to be considered.

First, there are still many people who are not comfortable or confident
using a computer. No matter how simple the instructions are they simply
don't know that they are in control and will not learn that on their own.

Second, some people do not know how to 'keyboard'. "[F1] for Help" is
meaningless to someone who is not familiar with a computer keyboard. Even
such simple instructions as "press [RETURN]" can be frustrating if the
keyboard only has an "ENTER" key.

Third, there is the great myth of the computer, that it is somehow all
knowing. Based on this, it is not unreasonable to expect to have to look
through 200+ records to find the one that they want. I've seen people
download searches that had 700+ hits (at least they weren't printing!).

For these people, a full class is necessary. Partially to teach them how to
use the database, but also to teach them how to use the instructions.

Someday, perhaps, when computers have better human interfaces, and humans
have better computer interfaces, this may not be such a problem (people are
not hopeless, they learned how to use microwaves and get money out of
ATMs). Unitl then, keep fillig up them classes and be happy that you don't
have to teach them one-at-a-time from the reference desk.

aloha,
Cm
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Corey Murata                  coreym@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu |
| U of Hawaii, Hamilton Library coreym@uhunix.bitnet          |
| General & Hum/Soc Sci Ref     (808) 956-2527                |
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