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kelly 


URL: http://www.compumentor.org/cm/resources/articles/117.html
   
How to help someone use a computer.

By Phil Agre University of California, San Diego

   Computer people are generally fine human beings, but nonetheless they
   do a lot of inadvertent harm in the ways they "help" other people with
   their computer problems. Now that we're trying to get everyone on the
   net, I thought it might be helpful to write down everything I've been
   taught about helping people use computers.
   
   First you have to tell yourself some things:
     * Nobody is born knowing this stuff.
     * You've forgotten what it's like to be a beginner.
     * If it's not obvious to them, it's not obvious.
     * A computer is a means to an end. The person you're helping
       probably cares mostly about the end. This is reasonable.
     * Their knowledge of the computer is grounded in what they can do
       and see -- "when I do this, it does that". They need to develop a
       deeper understanding, of course, but this can only happen slowly,
       and not through abstract theory but through the real, concrete
       situations they encounter in their work.
     * By the time they ask you for help, they've probably tried several
       different things. As a result, their computer might be in a
       strange state. That's not their fault.
     * The best way to learn is through apprenticeship -- that is, by
       doing some real task together with someone who has skills that you
       don't have.
     * Your primary goal is not to solve their problem. Your primary goal
       is to help them become one notch more capable of solving their
       problem on their own. So it's okay if they take notes.
     * Most user interfaces are terrible. When people make mistakes it's
       usually the fault of the interface. You've forgotten how many ways
       you've learned to adapt to bad interfaces. You've forgotten how
       many things you once assumed that the interface would be able to
       do for you.
     * Knowledge lives in communities, not individuals. A computer user
       who's not part of a community of computer users is going to have a
       harder time of it than one who is.
       
   Having convinced yourself of these things, you are more likely to
   follow some important rules:
     * Don't take the keyboard. Let them do all the typing, even if it's
       slower that way, and even if you have to point them to each and
       every key they need to type. That's the only way they're going to
       learn from the interaction.
     * Find out what they're really trying to do. Is there another way to
       go about it?
     * Attend to the symbolism of the interaction. Most especially, try
       not to tower over them. If at all possible, squat down so your
       eyes are just below the level of theirs. When they're looking at
       the computer, look at the computer. When they're looking at you,
       look back at them.
     * If something is true, show them how they can see it's true.
     * Be aware of how abstract your language is. For example, "Get into
       the editor" is abstract and "press this key" is concrete. Don't
       say anything unless you intend for them to understand it. Keep
       adjusting your language downward towards concrete units until they
       start to get it, then slowly adjust back up towards greater
       abstraction so long as they're following you. When formulating a
       take-home lesson ("when it does this and that, you should check
       such-and-such"), check once again that you're using language of
       the right degree of abstraction for this user right now.
     * Whenever they start to blame themselves, blame the computer, no
       matter how many times it takes, in a calm, authoritative tone of
       voice. When they get nailed by a false assumption about the
       computer's behavior, tell them their assumption was reasonable.
       Tell *yourself* that it was reasonable. It was.
     * Never do something for someone that they are capable of doing for
       themselves.
     * Don't say "it's in the manual". (You probably knew that.)
       
   This article is adapted from The Network Observer. Copyright 1996 by
   the author. It may be forwarded to anyone for any noncommercial
   purpose.
   
   
   
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