One of the goals of this process is to better understand our audience. Our users typically fit into four categories. Now, I'm not talking about what type of Geek the user is. More specifically, I'm referring to the user's specific skill level. The first category is absolute beginner.
Absolute beginners are typically clueless.
We receive e-mails from them asking us to help them diagnose obscure problems that may not be problems at all. Sometimes the problem of lack of technical understanding is compounded by a language barrier, and thus it is even harder for us to understand their pleas for help. Most of the time, they are asking us for understanding more than they are asking for help. I expect that most of these users encounter our site once in their travels, send us an e-mail that causes us to scratch our heads, and then never come back or even remember that they were here. Next we have the beginner thirsting for knowledge.