I’ve noticed some things about a few people I know in the Pre-Internet generation. Just sharing my thoughts here and wondering how we can help them. Note that these generalizations don’t apply to everyone in this generation, but almost never apply at all to anyone outside of it.
- They often double click when they should single click
- They single click when they should double click
- They drag stuff around by accident because they forget to release the mouse before they move it again
- They don’t scan the entire screen and look for instructions so they often have to repeat entering information on a form
- They don’t keep track of multiple windows or tabs very easily
- Each program looks completely different to them, they haven’t learned the commonalities of their programs
- They find technology frustrating and slow, to them it is hardly ever reliable
- They want to hide their lack of knowledge of technology
- They generally don’t know the language of technology, icons, arrows, and other common notation is lost on them
Does this remind you of anyone you know? How can we help them? I can imagine it must be very frustrating to be in a technology rich world and not know how to use a lot of it, especially when it seems like every week there is something new you have to add to your repertoire of skills.
