[LINK] and the web in the US election Re: Tanner eyes web 2.0 tools

[Ivan Trundle]

On 06/11/2008, at 10:48 AM, Stilgherrian wrote:

> If I use the terms "address box" and a "search box", most users go
> blank. If I point and say "type here", they're OK. If I say "web
> browser" they look at me blankly too. Almost NONE of the terms we take
> for granted are known to "ordinary users".

This is something that all of us who have to work with normal people  
should be mindful of.

There's barely a day that passes in my line of work where I cannot  
take anything for granted (in terms of computer operation) - nothing  
quite beats showing people directly (either using a data projector  
that matches their screen), or sitting alongside them and guiding  
them. But they will instantly forget any labels that you apply to a  
construct or to what is displayed by an application (such as a menu  
bar).

Even the concept of 'right-click' is not well-known (from my  
experience in introducing people to collaborative networked  
computers), and the distinction between double-click (or 'click twice'  
as some refer to it) and single-click is often missed, too.

Indeed, there is a whole school of thought on just the debate over  
'click-twice/double-click' on the interwebs, if you care to look.