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From: parnass@ihuxf.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng
Subject: Design for novices if you want customers
Message-ID: <659@ihuxf.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 24-Aug-83 14:37:33 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxf.659
Posted: Wed Aug 24 14:37:33 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 26-Aug-83 01:23:23 EDT
Organization: BTL Naperville, Il.
Lines: 40



       The argument has	been made that novices remain novices for a
       short  period  of  time,	hence it is not	worth the effort to
       design interfaces for  them.   I	 assert	 that  this  novice
       period plays a critical role in the product's acceptance.

       Permit me introduce a common scenario to	illustrate:

	 1.  There exists a common task, such as text editing, that
	     many people need to perform.

	 2.  People  may  choose  from	a  plethora  of	 tools	 to
	     accomplish	this task.

	 3.  A tool developer constructs a new tool to perform this
	     task,  which  is  purported  to  be more powerful than
	     existing tools in this category, and the claim is made
	     that  use	of  this  tool	will  increase	the  users'
	     productivity.

	 4.  This new tool is difficult	to learn.

	 5.  A set of  potential  customers  try  using	 this  new,
	     powerful  tool,  but initial difficulty in	learning it
	     discourages a large subset	of them.

	 6.  This discouraged subset of	 potential  users  abandons
	     this tool,	and resumes using less productive tools.


       In the above scenario, almost everyone loses.

       Potential customers are usually novices with respect to	the
       tool  being  "sold."  As	 powerful  as a	tool might be, it's
       harder to "sell"	a tool that's difficult	to learn.

-- 
 ============================================================================
   Robert S. Parnass, Bell Laboratories   ihnp4!ihuxf!parnass  (312)979-5760