[mikeash]

There’s lots of discussion here about UI design and intuitive interfaces in here, but not much about training.

Computers are, by far, the most complicated machines that people are expected to be able to operate without any training whatsoever. Is that actually reasonable?

It really sticks out for me in the workplace. So many jobs require computer use. So many of the people in those jobs have no idea how to use them. They muddle through on a combination of habit and tribal knowledge, and call for help the moment anything different happens.

Consider jobs that require operating a car. It’s expected that someone hired for this job already knows how to drive. If they dont, they either won’t be hired or they’ll be required to complete training to learn how to operate this equipment.

Yet if you replace “drive a car” with “operate a computer,” usually they don’t care. Just try your best, and call IT for help.

Making intuitive interfaces that anyone can pick up and use is great, don’t get me wrong. But I feel like we try to take it to impossible places.