Who Designed This Experience?
Wouldn’t you think that if you bought a mouse…
[An image of a small furry thing is in my head at this point]
… the software that has to be installed, prominently labelled ‘Install before you use this mouse’…
[Oh. That kind of mouse]
… would be installable without the use of a mouse? I mean, it’s a Microsoft mouse!”
Yup.
What can I say. Their head honcho retired.
Maybe they’re a little off their game right now.
Get on it, Steve Ballmer.
Duh.
How are you making your customer’s Experience as simple as possible?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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8 August 2008, 8:53 am
Kelly,
This is exactly the sort of thing I plan to help people *avoid* with that little business venture thingy I emailed to you.
It makes you wonder – or maybe not – are these things made intentionally difficult so that the PC support industries have a steady stream of customers with problems?
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…dog food.
8 August 2008, 9:44 am
“Duh.”.
Couldn’t have said it any better myself.
Friar’s last blog post…My Favorite Touron (*) Moments
8 August 2008, 9:52 am
The way Microsoft has taken over the world, and the grief it’s caused, I sometimes used to wonder if Bill Gates wasn’t the living incarnation of the Anti-Christ.
But seeing how he’s stepped down and he’s doing such wonderful charity work, I must admit, he’s redeemed himself and he’s an allright guy. I respect what he’s doing.
(That’s not to say Windows still SUCKS, though)
Friar’s last blog post…My Favorite Touron (*) Moments
8 August 2008, 12:08 pm
Haha, wow! That video cracked me up! Quite honestly, I had no idea he was retiring. As Friar said, Microsoft has caused a lot of grief, but it is curious to see what will happen with that tyrannical company now that their leader is retired. It’s good to see, at least, that the wealthiest man in the world can make fun of himself.
8 August 2008, 2:50 pm
Brett,
It’s the eternal question. WHY, when MS and others in PC-land know that the big draw of Macs is simplicity and ease of use, do they persist in being so cotton-pickin’ complex and idiosyncratic?
And does “idiosyncratic” count for the most syllables in a single word ever used at MCE?
Friar,
Bill himself I have always admired greatly. The classic Horatio Alger for the 20th (and now 21st) century. The 43-armed octopus he tries to ride… not so much.
He and his wife Melinda have done wonders for this planet with their charity work, which only adds to my admiration of the man. Without the octopus, they couldn’t, so I begrudgingly say thank goodness for the octopus.
Nathan,
Great vid, isn’t it? It came out a few months ago, before he had, actually, retired, and I was in tears laughing. What a perfect straight man he is!
I think the big difference between streamlined, Vision-and leader-centered Apple and the MS octopus is that Microsoft will get on, probably about the same, without their founder. He was no longer central to their direction by the time he stepped down. Without Steve Jobs… well, time will tell if it can be done, but the last time Apple tried to make a go without him they were badly shaken. The Steve’s sleek pawprint is everywhere at Apple, and fans are as cultish about the man as they are about the products.
Regards,
Kelly
8 August 2008, 3:08 pm
Kelly,
I know. Though I do still use Windows for some things as there’s some great software there, I do wonder… for instance, the wireless connection interface expects *you* to know what your encryption protocol is… umm, that info is apparent to Mac, and to Linux too (!) because it’s in the data stream. Why Windows doesn’t just pick up on that is beyond me. How’s my mother supposed to know if she has WEP or WPA?
But I agree, Bill is cool.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the worst sickness.
8 August 2008, 4:36 pm
If Bill was only a millionaire, he’d be able to make modest contributions so society.
But now that he’s a Gazillionaire, he’s able to make a much bigger difference.
I say good on him. He’s doing more than most of us are.
Friar’s last blog post…My Favorite Touron (*) Moments
8 August 2008, 6:45 pm
Okay, it seems like a d’uh thing, but there are some seriously un-bright people out there. My daughter’s boyfriend, M, had the joy of working for a support call centre. Here is how a call went:
M: How may I help you?
Woman (with thick Southern U.S. accent): well son, my phone hangs up every time I answer it.
M: really? (then asks the usual questions about make, model, etc, but can’t figure it out). What do you do when you answer the phone.
Woman: I press the Press When Ringing Button.
M: The Press When Ringing Button? Where is that located?
Woman: on the front of the phone.
M: Press When Ringing…PWR…M’am, that would be the Power button. You are turning the phone off when you answer it.
Urban Panther’s last blog post…The toughest crowd yet
8 August 2008, 8:09 pm
Brett,
You got it. If everything in life were made to pass the Mom Test (wink wink see sidebar if you’re new here), there would be no need for usability experts or a lot of other nonsense. And that, folks, is the truth.
My fingers are sore. I am never emailing you again.
Friar,
Oh, yes. Please, make me a gazillionaire, Santa, I promise to be every bit as good as Mr. Gates.
Many people are in the next tier down from him and don’t give a hoot about the world. He is special.
Panther,
LOL! That’s a beautiful one! I wonder if anyone’s ever written a book. Call centers must hear all the funniest stupid things in the world.
Yes, there are duh people around, I agree. The guy who wanted to get his mouse up and running, not a duh person. The person who designed a mouse you can’t use keyboard commands to set up, however, is pretty duh.
Until later,
Kelly
9 August 2008, 12:00 am
@Kelly
Urban Panther’s story reminds me of last year. We had a power failure at work…it was a local black-out that lasted for a few hours on a hot summer afternoon.
Though the brilliant rocket scientists at the Widget Factory sent out the message to stay at your desks, and try to work the best you can, until the power comes back on, or until you’re officially told to go home.
Of course, they sent this out by EMAIL.
Friar’s last blog post…Travels with the Bear: Where the buffalo roam (or fly).
9 August 2008, 12:21 am
@Kelly,
So true, isn’t it – the Mom Test. (And thank you for the email – really, thank you. I’ll bet your fingers are quite sore, lots of typing there – I owe you. And we’re still friends too – just what I needed to hear.)
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the worst sickness.
9 August 2008, 8:34 am
Friar,
I love that! My email was down for several hours on Thursday and after I sent the error code to them (“click here to tell us about the problem”) they sent me an email, too. Telling me that it must be my fault (which it wasn’t, because it came back up around midnight with nothing done on my end). Telling me what steps to take to get it back up. My email’s down, dummies!
All’s well that ends.
So did you go home?
Brett,
But it took you until 12:21 to read it, LOL!
Regards,
Kelly
9 August 2008, 9:16 am
Kelly,
LOL I had read it a bit earlier but my friend Francis is here and we had a date with a six-pack and a half of Steinlager… so once he hit the sack, I sat down to read and respond (he’d been on a motorcycle in the rain since 9 am and arrived around 4:30 pm…)
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the worst sickness.
9 August 2008, 9:24 am
*grins* I figured something like that. Literary license, I made it martinis. I did have a nice Cosmopolitan to circulate the blood after I was done, though.
9 August 2008, 10:13 am
@Kelly
Hahah! I remember it only too well. Yes, I went home, only I got nailed for it.
It was 1:30 PM, stinking hot, no air conditioning. We stuck around our sweltering dark offices until 2:30. There weren’t any bosses around to ask. We had no idea how long the power would be out (it’s not unusual to go down for 4-5 hours at a time, here). So we went home.
The following Monday, I was told that those extra two hours would come out of my own time, because I left early.
I called my Union Rep, and asked, what are the rules, regarding power outages?
The answer was that officially, unless you’re told otherwise, you sit at your desk and do whatever work you can. If your office is unfit to work in, then you go outside, and sit under a tree, and you spend your time reading Quality Assurance Manuals or something.
God Bless the Widget Factory.
Please, sir, may I have some more?
Friar’s last blog post…Travels with the Bear: Where the buffalo roam (or fly).
9 August 2008, 4:37 pm
Friar,
Pity really isn’t enough. My goodness! Treating you like you’re in nursery school. Nursery school for PhDs. Shameful.
You’ll rile yourself up, talking like this, you know. Walk back in to work Monday with “a mad on,” as my mom says. I hope you’re soaking up some sun right now, far from these madding thoughts.
Later,
Kelly
9 August 2008, 8:27 pm
@Kelly
Awww..dont’ worry. I like to vent about work, but I’m not fuming mad about this (It’s so MINOR compared to the other stuff…it dosen’t even register)
No, I wont’ go into work with a Mad-On. Except for the few minutes I wrote this, I wasn’t thinking about work in the very least. (Except, only to decide which week I want to take off for vacation!)
As for sun…HAH! It’s cloudy, dark, with intermittent showers. Barely reaching into the 70’s. You almost need to wear a sweater outside. Same weather for tomorrow. And for Monday
Please send some of the muggy weather our way.
Anyway, I’m soon on my way to Brett’s (to drink more brown pop). We might even have a bonfire…!!!
Friar’s last blog post…Travels with the Bear: Where the buffalo roam (or fly).
9 August 2008, 9:57 pm
Friar,
Muggy! (How to get me riled up in one easy lesson…)
On Wednesday, I was siting at home in the evening, blogging my head off. What’s new? Anyway, it was so hot and humid in my living room that my fingers were sticking to each key as I typed. It felt weird but I was so busy I didn’t realize what it was.
It wasn’t until my fingers started making little ripping noises coming off the keys that I figured I’d better get up and turn the a/c on.
UGH. You do not want this.
I hope you all have a grand time.
Later,
Kelly
10 August 2008, 8:04 am
Kelly,
Yes, a great time was had by all… one of my young triplets was crying when Francis departed (he’s really good with children).
Hey, do you have one of those iSkin things for your keyboard? I couldn’t live without it.
-Brett
10 August 2008, 9:03 am
Brett,
If I had an iSkin, I think I would have noticed the sticky heat faster. No, I like mine plain vanilla. No one is allowed to eat/ drink near the MacBook, so hopefully other than the usual wear and tear, it will remain safe.
She says, feeling momentarily paranoid…
Glad the visit went well.
Later,
Kelly
10 August 2008, 9:38 am
Kelly,
LOL that’s true the iSkin would do that (I just wondered, I had to get one as I used to use one back in ‘03-’04 when I had a Ti Powerbook at work – you needed the iSkin or the oil from your fingers would transfer a keyboard pattern to the LCD…)
Believe me I know. The computer has a nice little bag where it lives when I’m not around it. Too many little curious fingers wonder what is that softly blinking light on the front… followed by, “let’s draw on this with a Sharpie!”
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the worst sickness.
10 August 2008, 10:32 am
@Brett
Curious fingers, eh? What was that you mentioned about your oldest messing with the applications from your main computer?
10 August 2008, 11:20 am
@Friar,
Yeah, the machine you were using last night… well, luckily that’s just the “game box” and media centre. Well, I suppose he could muckety-muck up something but he’s just learning.
(Actually, he’s pretty smart – he installed a game by himself off of my Steam account)
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – the worst sickness.