Experiment: First time on a browser, ever

Thought you might like it: read it here.

crozer said
Thought you might like it: read it here.

my experience with people who never touched a computer is that they manage to bring a system to crash in the shortest amount possible. They make some unexpected thing that no software creator has ever thought about it and they successfully kills whatever application they may try to use. This makes them the perfect debugger/tester that one can find.

doru said

crozer said
Thought you might like it: read it here.

my experience with people who never touched a computer is that they manage to bring a system to crash in the shortest amount possible. They make some unexpected thing that no software creator has ever thought about it and they successfully kills whatever application they may try to use. This makes them the perfect debugger/tester that one can find.

Hahaha, I like the way you put it, and it’s exactly what I’ve experienced myself. Clicking 20 times on quite a heavy application, and then trying to refresh a site, hitting a bit the computer, pressing space, enter, del a few more times.. great!

I think the test is totally irrelevant.

Why on Earth should a browser also try and teach someone how to use a computer?

I mean, it’s not a secret to anyone that, in order to use a browser, you first need to know the very basics on how to use your computer.

Think about how many people use a browser on a daily basis for things they need. Think about how many new people use a computer for the first time ever. Compare the two and think about which one will invest more time into browsing. That is why browsers are setup the way they are.

The next Microsoft Windows, with his new touch interface it answer pretty well at the question of new users. You just click one of those tiles an you are using a computer without even knowing. For us is to simplistic, because we are not simple users, we are behind the curtain practically, but for a person who had minimal touch with the computers, it will be a big plus.

digitalimpact said
I think the test is totally irrelevant. Why on Earth should a browser also try and teach someone how to use a computer?

I don’t think it’s about having to “teach people how to use a computer”, it’s about the assumptions UX/UI designers take for granted, as well as just general food for thought.

Plus it’s just genuinely interesting..!

Nice one, doru. However, one of the problems that software creator may have from these testers would be, they will not know what went wrong. They can ask these testers what happened, but they may not be able to explain what they did that made software crash.

pixelnourish said

I don’t think it’s about having to “teach people how to use a computer”, it’s about the assumptions UX/UI designers take for granted, as well as just general food for thought.

Plus it’s just genuinely interesting..!

I agree 100%. A very interesting test and a great lesson for usability. Not 100% relevant for a website, cos when users did manage come to your site they propably do know how to use a mouse, the keyboard, the effect when hitting enter etc.

Even some of those comments are quite teaching.

Thanks for sharing @crozer

warriorfullights said
Nice one, doru. However, one of the problems that software creator may have from these testers would be, they will not know what went wrong. They can ask these testers what happened, but they may not be able to explain what they did that made software crash.

there are programs that keep track in background of what a tester do, there’s technology that tracks were the tester looks on the screen, probably if they really wanted they can hook the tester to a machine to get his brain activity while using the browser.

The tester doesn’t need to explain what his doing and why thing happens, there are specialized people who interpret and analyze the results of a test session.