I've been a professional C, Perl, PHP and Python developer.
I'm an ex-sysadmin from the late 20th century.
These days I do more Javascript and CSS and whatnot, and promote UX and accessibility.
I'm usually stumped by Apple apps, even after having had to use one for years. The photo apps? baffling. I have to google how to do anything. iPhones? Insanely difficult to use.
As a tiny example, I gave my mother an ipod nano (the one with the click wheel) then they came out, and they didn't come with a manual. Next time I visited her I found she didn't use it because she hated the interface - turned out she'd been clicking the wheel top right left and bottom instead of moving her thumb around in a circle. Because - wait for it - there's no signifier and no manual.
Simple is good, however Apple's version of it is usually at the cost of usability.
It sounds to me like the problem is discoverabilty, not useability. Once you showed her the spin motion, all else is pretty simple. The spin motion was more discoverable on the original iPod because it actually spun.
I've been a professional C, Perl, PHP and Python developer.
I'm an ex-sysadmin from the late 20th century.
These days I do more Javascript and CSS and whatnot, and promote UX and accessibility.
But Apple's decision not to include manuals can only work when the product's features are discoverable. It's obvious once you've seen it, but if there's no system in place to let you see it before you use the device and no signifiers around the device itself, it's all down to luck.
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I'm usually stumped by Apple apps, even after having had to use one for years. The photo apps? baffling. I have to google how to do anything. iPhones? Insanely difficult to use.
As a tiny example, I gave my mother an ipod nano (the one with the click wheel) then they came out, and they didn't come with a manual. Next time I visited her I found she didn't use it because she hated the interface - turned out she'd been clicking the wheel top right left and bottom instead of moving her thumb around in a circle. Because - wait for it - there's no signifier and no manual.
Simple is good, however Apple's version of it is usually at the cost of usability.
It sounds to me like the problem is discoverabilty, not useability. Once you showed her the spin motion, all else is pretty simple. The spin motion was more discoverable on the original iPod because it actually spun.
But Apple's decision not to include manuals can only work when the product's features are discoverable. It's obvious once you've seen it, but if there's no system in place to let you see it before you use the device and no signifiers around the device itself, it's all down to luck.