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So my mom, an inexperienced user, gets this new laptop with Vista (I
can actually hear the collective groan). One of the things she wants
to do is insert personal photos into emails, and I suspect this is one
of the most common things a PC user may want to do.
She inserts her SD card and is greeted with a window asking what she
wants to do. - GOOD
In a window that displays the photos there's a button for "email" -
GOOD
During the process for creating the email she's asked if she wants to
resize the image. This is somewhat confusing to a novice, but it
makes complete sense and is very useful. -GOOD
Then after confirming the size, the email is created with the picture
as an attachment - BAD!
The picture should appear embedded within the body of the message.
This is what my mom, and probably most other users, would want!
Microsoft, on the other hand, thinks it's more useful to insert the
photo as an old fashioned attachment represented with a little icon.
Those bastards don't even have a nag window to offer the choice!
This is typical Microsoft.
So because my mom wants the final behavior 99 out of 100 novice users
would want, I had to jump through hoops and figure out how to insert a
picture into an email. I even went into Vista Mail's "Help" which is
so useful in how it's basically a system-wide help document instead of
one dedicated exclusively to the specific piece of software I used.
(sarcasm)
Eventually I noticed the "Insert" menu on the email window (yea, did
"duh" there on my part) and, being a savvy user, quickly figured out
how to insert the pictures. But how do I explain these steps to a
novice? :
"OK mom, you have to click Insert-> Photo which launches an 'Open
Dialog' common control, then expand the 'My Computer' tree to locate
your SD card volume, select the desired photo, and then grab the
resize handles on the inserted picture to shrink it down to a useful
size. Oh, and remember to be careful in maintaining that aspect
ratio!"
Nice user friendly experience there! I'm surprised she didn't figure
that out on her own!
Now how the hell does Microsoft think I'm going to explain that
process to a novice? They almost had the process done right with a
simple and easy interface, but they had to screw it up on the last
step. They just couldn't stand the idea of doing something right.
Hell, even me - a savvy user - would sometimes like to use a computer
to perform a simple task without having to deal with a pile of
nonsense. Why can't Microsoft ever place the user experience first?
When it comes to a Microsoft experience you'll either find the
implementation broken due to numerous bugs that they'll fix in a few
years, or a working experience that's so poorly designed you consider
joining the Amish church.
can actually hear the collective groan). One of the things she wants
to do is insert personal photos into emails, and I suspect this is one
of the most common things a PC user may want to do.
She inserts her SD card and is greeted with a window asking what she
wants to do. - GOOD
In a window that displays the photos there's a button for "email" -
GOOD
During the process for creating the email she's asked if she wants to
resize the image. This is somewhat confusing to a novice, but it
makes complete sense and is very useful. -GOOD
Then after confirming the size, the email is created with the picture
as an attachment - BAD!
The picture should appear embedded within the body of the message.
This is what my mom, and probably most other users, would want!
Microsoft, on the other hand, thinks it's more useful to insert the
photo as an old fashioned attachment represented with a little icon.
Those bastards don't even have a nag window to offer the choice!
This is typical Microsoft.
So because my mom wants the final behavior 99 out of 100 novice users
would want, I had to jump through hoops and figure out how to insert a
picture into an email. I even went into Vista Mail's "Help" which is
so useful in how it's basically a system-wide help document instead of
one dedicated exclusively to the specific piece of software I used.
(sarcasm)
Eventually I noticed the "Insert" menu on the email window (yea, did
"duh" there on my part) and, being a savvy user, quickly figured out
how to insert the pictures. But how do I explain these steps to a
novice? :
"OK mom, you have to click Insert-> Photo which launches an 'Open
Dialog' common control, then expand the 'My Computer' tree to locate
your SD card volume, select the desired photo, and then grab the
resize handles on the inserted picture to shrink it down to a useful
size. Oh, and remember to be careful in maintaining that aspect
ratio!"
Nice user friendly experience there! I'm surprised she didn't figure
that out on her own!
Now how the hell does Microsoft think I'm going to explain that
process to a novice? They almost had the process done right with a
simple and easy interface, but they had to screw it up on the last
step. They just couldn't stand the idea of doing something right.
Hell, even me - a savvy user - would sometimes like to use a computer
to perform a simple task without having to deal with a pile of
nonsense. Why can't Microsoft ever place the user experience first?
When it comes to a Microsoft experience you'll either find the
implementation broken due to numerous bugs that they'll fix in a few
years, or a working experience that's so poorly designed you consider
joining the Amish church.