09-02-2019, 03:20 PM
(09-02-2019, 11:25 AM)danbrotherston Wrote: "It's my own fault"...people think this, it is rarely true.
I’ve actually noticed this from the other side. At UW I created and maintain a system whose user base has gradually grown. While some parts of it are pretty slick, there are many other aspects of it which are excessively confusing, which I know about. I’ve had people write emails pretty much saying, “I must just be really dumb, so I hope you’ll forgive this question, …”. And these are the parts of the system that I already know are problematic! I just had to implement something quickly, so I did, and in many cases I know that I’m going to have to come back and figure out how to make it easier to use later.
There are other areas where I’ve been surprised by what is and is not confusing for people. Sometimes if I haven’t been able to eliminate the confusion I’ve at least implemented an interlock so that confusion will lead to an error message or inability to complete the task, rather than to the wrong option being chosen silently. I’d rather get a question about an error message than for the person to wonder what happened to the request they thought they had made through the system.
Anyway, if a request indicating confusion comes in, my first approach is to treat it as an example of my system imposing itself on somebody whose actual job is teaching and research, not figuring out my system. Sometimes I conclude that a low volume of confusion should be handled by just answering the questions when they come in, but in general I don’t even speculate on the abilities of the client, never mind judging their request on that basis. The goal is for the system to fade into the background. I’ve been fortunate enough to have use of the system be optional for most of its users most of the time. As a result, I really don’t have the option of ignoring feedback.