
	CIT 230 Page AlertBox 9 Assignment "Are Users Stupid?" Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, February 4, 2001 Summary of Article: Usability opponents claim three things that user advocates focus on. "Test Users are Stupid" Product owners state that when testing a new product the user advocates should test experienced people in that style of product when they are testing the usability of the product. The advocates say yes that might improve the outcome it still does not take in the point that the intial experience with the product is crucial, people will never become experienced users if they are incapable of learning the technology in the first place. And second they test the users twice, once at the beginning of the week and another at the end. If the user fails to learn the technology in a week it means it is too hard. Usually if a lot of the users are all having problems with the design doesnt mean that they are stupid but it is because the design is too difficult. "Real Users Don't Mind Complex Design" Many enthusiasts claim that users are capable of using complex sites and technology but the question is not if they are capable of doing so but if they are willing to do so. Most people just want to get in, get out, and move on even if they are highly intellegent people. Complexity can be a barrier for users. "Some People are Too Stupid to Serve" Only half the population in the United States are using the internet and usually that is the smarter half that would be online. People that are technologicaly inclined will be on the internet so if users can not use the site it is not because they are stupid but it is because the site is too complex. Looking Ahead: As years progress more and more users will be using the internet. So as more people get online that means more stupid people will get online. We can not just rule those people out and say your not good enough for my website. We have to try to include that part of the population that might not be considered "smart". Very few website are appropriate for 80% of the population let alone 90 to 99%. Summary of Implementation: We learned in class four things: Know your Audience Less is more Just because you can doesn't mean you should People spend most of their time on other sites With that in knowledge I can understand that people are not stupid they would just rather do the easy thing. People dont use the web for learning complex and hard to understand methods but they use if for personal reasons and we as creators should understand that and make our web sites for them not for us. I will try to make my web site easy to understand, easy to use, and without a lot of things that are not needed. By understanding this article and understanding these four things I can create a very easy, usable web site.

CIT 230 Page

AlertBox 9 Assignment

Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, February 4, 2001

Summary of Article:

Usability opponents claim three things that user advocates focus on.

"Test Users are Stupid"

Product owners state that when testing a new product the user advocates should test experienced people in that style of product when they are testing the usability of the product. The advocates say yes that might improve the outcome it still does not take in the point that the intial experience with the product is crucial, people will never become experienced users if they are incapable of learning the technology in the first place. And second they test the users twice, once at the beginning of the week and another at the end. If the user fails to learn the technology in a week it means it is too hard. Usually if a lot of the users are all having problems with the design doesnt mean that they are stupid but it is because the design is too difficult.

"Real Users Don't Mind Complex Design"

Many enthusiasts claim that users are capable of using complex sites and technology but the question is not if they are capable of doing so but if they are willing to do so. Most people just want to get in, get out, and move on even if they are highly intellegent people. Complexity can be a barrier for users.

"Some People are Too Stupid to Serve"

Only half the population in the United States are using the internet and usually that is the smarter half that would be online. People that are technologicaly inclined will be on the internet so if users can not use the site it is not because they are stupid but it is because the site is too complex.

Looking Ahead: As years progress more and more users will be using the internet. So as more people get online that means more stupid people will get online. We can not just rule those people out and say your not good enough for my website. We have to try to include that part of the population that might not be considered "smart". Very few website are appropriate for 80% of the population let alone 90 to 99%.

Summary of Implementation:

We learned in class four things:

Know your Audience
Less is more
Just because you can doesn't mean you should
People spend most of their time on other sites

With that in knowledge I can understand that people are not stupid they would just rather do the easy thing. People dont use the web for learning complex and hard to understand methods but they use if for personal reasons and we as creators should understand that and make our web sites for them not for us. I will try to make my web site easy to understand, easy to use, and without a lot of things that are not needed. By understanding this article and understanding these four things I can create a very easy, usable web site.

Last Edited: March 15, 2008