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The User Is Drunk

theuserisdrunk.com

161–170 of 224 posts

Re: The User Is Drunk

#163
post #155

Love it - How about this as an alternative: The user is stuck in a very (corporate/government/sluggish) environment. I will review your site/app from a major bank's / federal government's offices and report back! Or maybe this: The user is a 65 year old dad whose son doesn't come around often enough to ensure his father hasn't installed countless malware that he blames "internet" on. I will go to my dad's house and u…

The user is a bored developer working in a dead end job, they will either - look at it for 1 second and say "meh", close it and go back to reddit or if they like the colours say "cool" click around a bit for 5 seconds, close it and go back to reddit.

Nah, that one already exists: http://fivesecondtest.com/

( I may be making assumptions about the user base, but I think "bored developer" is a reasonably safe bet...)

Re: The User Is Drunk

#164
post #155

Love it - How about this as an alternative: The user is stuck in a very (corporate/government/sluggish) environment. I will review your site/app from a major bank's / federal government's offices and report back! Or maybe this: The user is a 65 year old dad whose son doesn't come around often enough to ensure his father hasn't installed countless malware that he blames "internet" on. I will go to my dad's house and u…

The user is a bored developer working in a dead end job, they will either - look at it for 1 second and say "meh", close it and go back to reddit or if they like the colours say "cool" click around a bit for 5 seconds, close it and go back to reddit.

My first thought was "this already exists, it's called HN/reddit/producthunt/etc" then I realised most of the times I upvote items just because they have a lot of upvotes/comments.

Side project idea: HN/PH where the ratings are hidden. This way you still get the curation bit, but people are free to make up their own minds about your website.

Re: The User Is Drunk

#166
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how some of my clients send me screenshots. :(

I have one pair of clients who send me wireframes produced in Excel, sometimes with screenshots of LinkedIn (which serves as the inspiration for most of their ideas) pasted in. I find it quite amusing and genuinely like the clients as people, if not really as clients, so I don't have the heart to tell them how silly it is. (I did once try and get them to use Balsamiq, but it didn't end well.)

> I have one pair of clients who send me wireframes produced in Excel

There are no limits to Excel.

I've been sent floor plans in Excel where the spreadsheet has been zoomed out really really far, each square representing less than a square meter in a 20000+ square meter building.

Or banking applications where the terminal input screen (the backend is in COBOL) and batch reports are designed in (and print to) perfect square cell Excel files, one character per cell.

This goes through a very traditional corporate waterfall testing process, and everyone finds it normal.

Re: The User Is Drunk

#167

I think there's also an opportunity here to crowdsource UX testing to our moms. They're the ultimate litmus test when it comes to being able to use technology.

This!!!

I call it the 'mum test'. My mum cannot use computers at all yet somehow she can buy stuff online.

My mum can't read that light grey text on a grey background in spider.ttf 10px!!!

My mum can't work that stupid menu you have.

My mum also has a 1366 x 768 'netbook' from a bygone era. The screen has a viewing angle designed for goldfish. Her broadband is rural flavoured.

My mum is also a bit of a snob. Any graphic chintz will be frowned on and ignored. My mum is entirely product and UX focused (in her own special way).

If she can buy from your site and get items delivered then you have passed my 'my mum' test.

Seriously though, the test on a regular 1366x768 Windows/Chrome OS laptop with high-glare screen, lame CPU, lame memory/disk is not something done early enough in most projects. Many, many people have such computers, not everyone has Apple/Android.

Re: The User Is Drunk

#169
post #62

If you're concerned about your drinking habits, you should probably not check out aa.org. There is little solid evidence that AA is a particularly effective treatment for alcoholism. Various types of therapy with real trained and certified therapists have good success rates backed by actual scientific evidence, as do certain prescription drugs. Combining them likely has an even better success rate. Talk to your docto…

I think you should rephrase that to "you shouldn't solely rely on aa" rather than excluding it entirely. Maybe this just struck a personal chord, because AA helped save me from life-threatening alcoholism, but this seems like a highly irresponsible suggestion (which is why the author of the article you link is very careful not to make it).

If you are an alcoholic, you probably should check out AA in addition to checking in to a detox/rehab program where you will have a therapist and a psychiatrist. As a matter of fact, many "real trained and certified therapists" will suggest that you at least check out a few meetings.

What's important is to know that if it doesn't work out, it doesn't mean you've failed. But it's really, really hard to stop drinking when you are an alcoholic, and it would be foolish to exclude any safe solution that could potentially help you recover from a fatal condition.

When getting sober, there are worst things you could be doing with your time than socializing with other recovering alcoholics for an hour or two, even if you don't like the message.

I should add, I am an atheist and it was never an issue in all my time in AA.

Re: The User Is Drunk

#170

Love it - How about this as an alternative: The user is stuck in a very (corporate/government/sluggish) environment. I will review your site/app from a major bank's / federal government's offices and report back! Or maybe this: The user is a 65 year old dad whose son doesn't come around often enough to ensure his father hasn't installed countless malware that he blames "internet" on. I will go to my dad's house and u…

There is no user.
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