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How
to Help Someone Use a Computer
(The
following message was posted to the helpnet-list.
It is a set of precepts for more experienced computer users who
attempt to help less experienced users.)
Paul Schroeder referred me to the following piece,
on how to help someone use a computer. It is from the Phil Agre's
archives of the
Network
Observer. Although this piece is 5 years old, it looks to me
like it's all still true.
Jon Falk
-----------------------------------------------
How to help someone use a computer.
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 in
one place everything I've been taught about how to help 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.)
Pine
Tree Folk School
RR 2, Box 7162
Carmel, ME 04419
207/848-2433
E-mail: info@ptfolkschool.org |
