Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site inteloc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!ihnp4!zehntel!dual!qantel!intelca!omsvax!inteloa!inteloc!bill From: bill@inteloc.UUCP Newsgroups: net.cog-eng Subject: User fiendliness Message-ID: <156@inteloc.UUCP> Date: Thu, 13-Sep-84 12:54:16 EDT Article-I.D.: inteloc.156 Posted: Thu Sep 13 12:54:16 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 02:25:16 EDT Organization: Intel Corp, Hillsboro, OR Lines: 21 In my experiences, the deepest problems in maling a user-friendly system is not the wide variety of users, but the variability of the individual. Many users wish the program to hold their hands at the outset of the learning process, prompt them nicely in the middle, and mind its own business once they really get to know what they're doing. "Verbose", "Brief", and "Silent" modes of conversation can alleviate most of these complaints, but there remains a significant minority who expect the program to analyze the general quantity and quality of their errors and respond accordingly. I must admit that I have little patience with a non-interactive program which gives my 50 copies of a given message when I have made the same mistake 50 times in a given batch-style run. Note, however, that the operating system must handle all of the messages and analysis, costing the user a proportional amount of performance. Yucko. Most of the persons with whom I've worked would like a tutorial mode (backed up by a set of manuals written in English) and a standard prompting mode that can be shut off for the macho (experienced) user. -- T.F.Prune (Bill Wickart) {allegra | ihnp4 | tektronix} !ogcvax!inteloa -- "Operator, trace this call and tell me where I am"