"The standard Web site for adjusting subscription
doesn't occur anywhere"

well, it does, as pointed out in the following post:

"http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=LSTOWN-L"

BUT, as i said when i was given an opportunity to view
the new web interface in pre-roll out design, i think
the latest version goes too much for glitz and not
enough for usability.

when a listowner has trouble finding the right area to
use, there is a problem... (why call it subscriber's
corner?).

(subscribers corner? how about subscriber options? do
we really need colors like "slightly autumn hunter
green"? the local cop will still call it dark green...
your friends will still call it dark green... what's
the point in pantone shades except to a printer trying
to match the exact color you inadvertantly specified?
and do you really care if it is pantone 942 or pantone
943?)

making the interface harder for casual
user's/listmembers does not make it easier on
listowners. i don't need a web interface to do what i
do... i need it to make it easier on my users to do
what they do.

at my job we have a really old plc system... built in
the late 70's. a really big display board, which the
system operators can look at quickly and know EXACTLY
what is going on.

they do not want a really neat computer screen that
they have to make multiple screen changes in to see
what they can see at a glance on the big board.

so i continue to support late 70's technology to keep
them happy... and more important... productive...

as a side note, since most of the component boards are
of the old time ttl type, i can quickly repair the
equipment with chips that cost around a dollar each...
yeah, i can do smt... but...) and oh yeah, since i
understand the workings of the boards, there are
innumerable clues as to which chip may be bad... or if
it is actually a plc problem or an input/output
problem. btw, the equipment has run 24/365 for over 20
years... yeah, i have to do repairs... 40 bucks to
completly rebuild a component...

impressing other geeks with your expertise does not
translate into a more user friendly program. it is not
a video game.

in the 80's, when i was writing dbase programs for
business, i was amazed at how often i would get
support calls from real world users that didn't bother
to read the simple directions at the bottom of the
screen. then i realized that the choices should be at
the top of the screen, not the bottom.

one screen... easy choices... no scrolling... truly
comprehensible tags...

the whole point of the xerox gui is putting everything
on one screen, where it is EASY to find. (sorry mr
gates, having the ability to view 100 icons on one
screen, most of which were put there by programs
loaded by average users who did not know they could
avoid the clutter is NOT user friendly...)

in industry it is not even called a gui anymore... it
is now an hmi...

the whole point was to make it easy on the user... no
more command lines... no more expertise required...
just simple choices, point and shoot.

power users will continue to use the the email route.
normal users will continue to be confused.

i have used every personal computer operating system
from the astro dos of nec to gary's cmos (was gary
really to busy playing golf to talk to ibm?)... (first
real wide use of any msdos os was in the nec/radio
shack model 100...) trash dos and linux along the
way... (does anyone besides me remember the first pc
version of windows? remember the old lim memory usage
standard? lotus/intel/microsoft? how to do page frame
addressing? and why?

do you know who gary was? do you know what drdos
stands for? do you know why sidekick was the most
important innovation of it's time?

whatever... i've been in this business a LONG time.

but for user friendly...

make it simple... the less options the better. it they
must nest, as they will have to if there are many
options, make the nesting comprehensible.

like a road map. if i turn left here, i will still be
on the same road. if i want to change roads, i need to
turn right up here. NOT, if i want to end up there,
here are the choices of motels and eateries.

i spend more time both at work, and on the lists
explaining the "latest features" to non-geeks then i
do assisting power users doing the latest things.

in fact, i don't spend any time doing the later,
except with a very small group that needs to know what
video card and memory configuration will best
reproduce the... latest game... at a reasonable price
point... how much shared memory... is overheating a
problem and how to deal with it...

remember the original macs and the fans you had to add
to keep them running? how about the original apples
and the zif's that the factory cure for was picking up
the cpu and dropping it?

for the average or even business user, i have a
saying... a 200 mile an hour super car may look good
in your driveway, but you still can't drive it at 200
miles an hour... and you still ain't mario...

ok, rant over...

final words... KEEP IT SIMPLE... it ain't about the
geeks... it's about USER friendly. at least in the
real world of lists.

bill salmon





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