The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
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Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#2A related anecdote - i’ve observed that computer skills in successive generation cohorts is dropping and dramatically. I’m a millennial but was fortunate enough to have grown up with parents who had no idea about tech but gave me tools and manuals to learn. Most of the books i read before the age of ten were computer manuals. they were in the trash and easy to access. Tech was also fragile in the 90s and 2000s so the fiddling led to higher understanding.
In stark contrast are gen z and gen alpha (?) where many i’ve interacted with do not understand folder structures, startup sequences or even how to type with more than two fingers. They are excellent at typing on a screen with their thumbs but writing an excel macro? It is completely alien. navigating folders? A struggle.
As tech matures, skills are dropping and alarmingly so.
Here is the original report: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/9789264258051-en.pdf...
Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#3How could the scale be reasonably expanded? "Level 4: can create the tools needed to solve the task"?
PS: shout-out and thanks to ben_w who mentioned this article in the discussion about the Algerian internet shutdowns.
Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#4I was quite surprised to read that about a quarter of the participants weren't able to delete an email in their email app (the "Can't Use Computers" group). This was 2016, though, so maybe things have changed drastically since then. Does anyone know of a related, but more recent study?
Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#5Does anyone know of comparable, up-to-date research?
Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#6Even amongst engineers some concepts cannot be understood until you decide to “implement a replacement” from scratch. Around 60% of the way, you figure out your design and coincidently understand the design of the thing you previously didnt understand.
However during this journey, you may discover a better method. The other group also came to realise this, but since they invested so much into the origal design, they continue down that path. True refactoring only happens when disgruntled former employees decide to quit and reengineer the solution, this time they create a better product.
Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#7Even amongst engineers some concepts cannot be understood until you decide to “implement a replacement” from scratch. Around 60% of the way, you figure out your design and coincidently understand the design of the thing you previously didnt understand. However during this journey, you may discover a better method. The other group also came to realise this, but since they invested so much into the origal design, they…
Totally agree, and well run organizations will give authority to new teams to rebuild existing products, learning from the mistakes of the past while documenting their decisions along the way.
Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#8Even amongst engineers some concepts cannot be understood until you decide to “implement a replacement” from scratch. Around 60% of the way, you figure out your design and coincidently understand the design of the thing you previously didnt understand. However during this journey, you may discover a better method. The other group also came to realise this, but since they invested so much into the origal design, they…
Sometimes it's better, sometimes it gets bogged down by the "second system effect" and is worse lol
Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#9It's the tools that suck, not the users.
If you have two folders open in Microsoft Windows, and drag an item from one to the other... there are 3 possible actions (as of a decade ago) that might happen according to an set of rules the user can't be expected to know....
It might copy the file
it might create a shortcut to the file
it might move the file
This is just a tiny example of the inconsistency of one of the oldest and most stable parts of the UI on a desktop. To coounteract this, I always taught about right-click and drag/drop to actively select which was to happen.
Throw in a phone, or the internet, and the UI de jure force through the web... how dare they cast aspersions on the users.... it's not their fault.
Re: The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think (2016)
#10A related anecdote - i’ve observed that computer skills in successive generation cohorts is dropping and dramatically. I’m a millennial but was fortunate enough to have grown up with parents who had no idea about tech but gave me tools and manuals to learn. Most of the books i read before the age of ten were computer manuals. they were in the trash and easy to access. Tech was also fragile in the 90s and 2000s so the…
It's interesting the differences between gen z and older generations when it comes to computers. I'm a cusper (millenial/gen z) so I grew up with computers, just like my parents who are gen x, so we all understand it just fine. But I'll help out someone who can't be any older than their late 40's with a $2,500 laptop, who almost started crying when I opened a new tab in her browser because she thought I deleted it. She didn't understand the concept of tabs. Or just last year when I met someone who had never owned a laptop, and returned their school laptop and bought an iPad Pro instead because they understood it.
It's so strange, I feel like I'm in this weird middle ground of understand desktop and mobile OS's just fine, but the older generation and the younger generation are siloed into one or the other.