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Comment by paol

2 years ago

There is a huge blindspot, I've noticed, where people mistake familiarity for ease of use (and other qualities too). Of course familiar things are easy and comfortable, but this thought doesn't seem to occur to most.

Software usability discussions are particularly prone to this bias.

EDIT: another fun one is internet discussions about metric vs imperial systems, with one side or the other swearing that one is inherently more "intuitive" for a particular use. Due to some extraordinary coincidence it's always the one the writer grew up with...

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paol

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didntcheck  2 years ago

Yep. This was on clear display when Linus Tech Tips did their Linux challenge a year or two ago. A lot of their complaints were just like "the wallpaper settings button isn't in the same place as Windows", with the base assumption that there was something inherently correct about Windows' choice

And there's the belief that "tech skills" = "knowing where the Windows buttons are". OK, that is true in a limited sense, that "x competency" = "familiarity with x", but the point is you can be a very skilled sysadmin or programmer who still makes "noob" mistakes trying to configure Windows just because you're more familiar with MacOS or Linux

This also extends beyond UI to platform concepts in general. I'll take Unix-or-DOS-like hierarchical filesystems as an example. Even here I've seen people equate knowledge of a hier FS structure with inherent technical ability, when discussing those "teens can't use computers" articles. It's certainly correlated, since all major operating systems do use them, but it's still a mistake to think that there's something inherently correct about choosing that storage model, over say how a mainframe or Multics did things

  • moring  2 years ago

    > And there's the belief that "tech skills" = "knowing where the Windows buttons are". OK, that is true in a limited sense, that "x competency" = "familiarity with x", but the point is you can be a very skilled sysadmin or programmer who still makes "noob" mistakes trying to configure Windows just because you're more familiar with MacOS or Linux

    To be fair, the Linux world makes the same mistake, labeling a user as "not tech competent", "needing hand holding" or "afraid of the command line" just because they do not have the time and patience to put up with the amount of bullshit that (insert whatever distro here) throws at them.

    • askiiart  2 years ago

      To be fair, it "just works" in 99% of cases, and when it doesn't, it can usually be fixed pretty easily. In the case of Linux Mint, which is exactly what I'd recommend to new users, that's either by selecting to install the proprietary Nvidia drivers in the window that opens after you login, of by running a `sudo apt install linux-firmware -y` and rebooting. If the user can install drivers on Windows, then I they can google for 30 seconds and find the one or two commands to run to install their driver on Linux.

      On easy distros like Mint, I have to deal with maybe a tenth of the amount of bullshit that Windows throws at me, the only difference is that most users are used to handling Windows' bullshit. My 12 year old brother, who while fairly competent as a user, isn't particularly tech-inclined, uses Mint exclusively, and he can handle just about everything, except burning the Mint USB and booting off it for the initial installation.

      Plus, I often see people arguing against Linux comparing its ease-of-use for users with very low tech literacy, then either acting as though those very same users could solve many problems they might across on Windows, or that they just wouldn't come across any problems. If I installed Mint, I'm sure my grandma could barely use Mint, just like she can barely use Windows, but she would need just as much tech support on Windows, if not more due to Microsoft becoming increasingly user-hostile.

      And as for rude Linux users: on the rare occasions that the user actually needs help, rather than just google, in my experience people tend to just mentally facepalm a thousand times over, rather than calling them "afraid of the command line", despite the reputation the Linux world has. It can be a bit frustrating helping noobs, sure, but not any more than helping total noobs on Windows. At worst, people might make some jokes at your expense, but it's pretty rare for me to actually see anything like the stereotypical rude Linux user.

      P.S. Saying "to be fair" back at you seems passive-aggressive, and I don't intend it that way; it just seems like the most appropriate phrase to use.

      P.P.S. This reply kinda got away from me, it's mostly not directed at you, just general thoughts about people comparing/arguing about Windows and Linux.

mschuster91  2 years ago

> There is a huge blindspot, I've noticed, where people mistake familiarity for ease of use (and other qualities too).

The "legacy" Windows design isn't just so beloved because of familiarity, but because it actually provides visual cues to users [1], and the backstory on how it was designed is also interesting [2].

I know that there was an even more detailed article floating around here on HN but I can't find it offhand.

[1] https://twitter.com/tuomassalo/status/978717292023500805

[2] https://socket3.wordpress.com/2018/02/03/designing-windows-9...