Thursday, October 19, 2006

OMG - yep!

Seth hits a hits a nerve here...
Lazy, as in not willing to do the work to create long term benefits. Lazy as in not willing to read the instructions, follow the manual, do all the steps, invest the time in the research. Lazy as in willing to buy the first choice that's 'good enough' as opposed to finding the best choice. These are people who will spend five minutes to find a parking space one minute closer to the mall.
It must cost business in the trillions based on my experience with several sites, CMS and web tools. We have created detailed manuals, screenshot tutorials and even screengrab movies walking the user through every concievable way of doing something. We still get calls from users who are having trouble with the tool, but, no, they haven't had time to watch the movies or do the tutorials.

It has become epidemic, and I believe it is a fault of education where critical thinking is not taught, or even recognized as valuable. The kids are taught not to work hard, just get by.

And even more worrisome is that as we continue on down the road to technological and informational based communities and business, the folks that can't get this stuff will be left behind. The divide wont be as much along income lines as among the ability to get things done lines.

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