Are Gadgets too Complex for Us?

[Jerry Raia]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.com.com/Are+gadgets+too+complex+for+us%3F/2100-1041_3-6046314.html?tag=fd_nbs_ent&tag=nl.e703' target='_blank'>http://news.com.com/Are+gadgets+too+complex+for+us%3F/2100-1041_3-6046314.html?tag=fd_nbs_ent&tag=nl.e703</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Half of all malfunctioning products returned to stores by consumers are in full working order, but customers can't figure out how to operate the devices, a researcher said on Monday. Product complaints and returns are often caused by poor design, but companies frequently dismiss them as "nuisance calls," Elke den Ouden found in her thesis at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the south of the Netherlands."</i><br /><br />Here is a great little article I'm sure we can all relate to it. The last paragraph says it all. Give it a read. Most of us here are pretty tech savvy and yet I'm sure we can all admit to having problems getting even simple things to work sometimes. This becomes most apparent to me when somebody is having trouble with a device (PC, phone etc). They usually don't even know how to phrase the question! Manuals are becoming more and more useless as the devices become more and more complex. Setting the time on the VCR has become the "Poster Child" of this phenomena. Our Smartphones are no exception. The average person can't figure out a plain vanilla phone. Your thoughts?

[edgar]

Don't forget manuals that look like they've been fed through Alpha versions of Babelfish.

Sometimes all I want is a phone. Even with the most simple of devices you can get frustrated and wonder what the heck the engineers were thinking when they made XYZ. Things like power buttons that trip in your pocket, other buttons that trip a machine on and execute a call or recording while walking down the street. (I still get calls from my wife's Treo because it trips in her purse and something hits the screen). Objects that don't auto update their time based on either caller ID or a network feed.

Then of course we get to the gist of this article. Stuff the sucker with so much "features" that nothing really works right. Manufacturers attempt a "jack of all trades" instead of a master of one - they end up with a jacka** of a product.

My two cents, I continue to await my change...

-Edgar_

[Mike Temporale]

I find it interesting when manufacturers don't include a printed copy of the manual. The 5600 had a manual, but it was hidden on the CD and most people never found it.

If some many people are having issues, why wouldn't you put the manual in an easy to find location? But what do I know. ;)

[Jerry Raia]

I think printed manuals are a thing of the past. The ones on the CD's are less than useless as well.

[Kris Kumar]

I was never a fan of the user guides, but I do like the one page Start up Guides. I strongly believe that the first impression makes a lasting impression, if the manufacturer can guide the user thru the first few steps/phases of ownership, then they have willing partner.

Like for example - how to open the battery cover (it may be simple for some, but it can be tricky, for me I had a tough time with the 2125 - I didn't want to break the cover), insert SIM card and charge the phone. And also how to power up the phone and get it activated. To placing the first call.

[edgar]

Why the carriers don't pre-load a file on the system stumps me. Heck, most software now comes with a MS help file. Why can't these, with cross index as well. It could be a word file, a help file or a html file, right?

-Edgar

[Sven Johannsen]

I don't think we are talking about special features here, I think we are talking about basic ones. I agree that that what passes for mass market tech is typically too complex for the typical 'Mass". There have been other studies that indicate the average consumer will try to make a special feature work maybe once, and then just forget about it, if it doesn't work. It boggles my mind that BT is such a hotly desired feature when probably less than 10% of phone users ever get it to work.

I'm not sure the people who visit these forums and similar ones realize how many Palms, PPCs, PPCPEs and Smartphones (or smartphones) are out there being used exactly how they came out of the box.

[Mark Larson]

I actually like the electronic manuals because you usually can't locate something as quickly in the paper version. But I think Edgar has a great idea - why not have something that runs automatically that guides you through the system, deleting itself when its done (or maybe it can be put in the ROM/firmware)

My girlfriend's K700i had something like this that autostarted when it detected a new SIM, and it was very helpful for her.

The problem with manuals is that most people take reading as a chore. I can be done with a manual in the time it takes for me to finish pinching a log, but for most its time not worth wasting when they can be watching Fear Factor instead.

[Mike Temporale]

But I think Edgar has a great idea - why not have something that runs automatically that guides you through the system, deleting itself when its done (or maybe it can be put in the ROM/firmware)

Kind of like the Dr. Appointment thing on the Pocket PC. It teaches the user how to copy, paste, etc.. on the first boot. And it's great at first. But after a couple hard resets - how annoying is it to walk through that simple little tutorial.

[edgar]

Mike,

That's true and another example of how the engineers must not use the product they are designing (back to my first post).

God forbid they add a little feature button called &lt;skip> or &lt;cancel>, as they should have on Dr Appt. Not that us experienced PPC power users have to hard reset all that much.

DOH! 8O *grumble grumble*

-Edgar

[Jerry Raia]

That stupid thing makes me nuts!

[lagsun]

I actually like the electronic manuals because you usually can't locate something as quickly in the paper version. But I think Edgar has a great idea - why not have something that runs automatically that guides you through the system, deleting itself when its done (or maybe it can be put in the ROM/firmware)

My girlfriend's K700i had something like this that autostarted when it detected a new SIM, and it was very helpful for her.

The problem with manuals is that most people take reading as a chore. I can be done with a manual in the time it takes for me to finish pinching a log, but for most its time not worth wasting when they can be watching Fear Factor instead.

I use to have a client in the memory biz that was trying to convince handset manufacturers and carriers to publish tutorials, demos, walkthroughs, etc, on low cost memory cards that come bundled with the new cellphone.

I think they came up against a lot of resistance even though it's well known that most consumers have a hard time trying to figure out how to use their handset as well as explore and find things on their carrier's network....