Thursday, January 31, 2008
So, you buy a new ergonomic keyboard, you plug it in and it doesn't work. After carefully examining the manual and calling the help desk it turns out you should have installed a special software package on your computer, before connecting the keyboard. Ah, you were wondering what that nice cd-rom was doing in the box.
Apparently, at Microsoft's computer peripherals division they realized this was probably not the kind of out-of-the-box experience you want to offer your users. So, what the guys in Seattle came up with: they've put a warning label on the plug, which says '[!], install software first' . Without removing the label, you can't plug in your keyboard. Of course it would have been better if installing extra software would not have been required. Or if at least the sequence in which you installed the software and connected the keyboard did not matter. And of course it shouldn't be your goal to 'fix things in the manual', but this example does proof that you can enhance the out of the box experience of your product if you think about how to package it.
Thnx to Christelle for the tip and picture.
So, you buy a new ergonomic keyboard, you plug it in and it doesn't work. After carefully examining the manual and calling the help desk it turns out you should have installed a special software package on your computer, before connecting the keyboard. Ah, you were wondering what that nice cd-rom was doing in the box.
Apparently, at Microsoft's computer peripherals division they realized this was probably not the kind of out-of-the-box experience you want to offer your users. So, what the guys in Seattle came up with: they've put a warning label on the plug, which says '[!], install software first' . Without removing the label, you can't plug in your keyboard. Of course it would have been better if installing extra software would not have been required. Or if at least the sequence in which you installed the software and connected the keyboard did not matter. And of course it shouldn't be your goal to 'fix things in the manual', but this example does proof that you can enhance the out of the box experience of your product if you think about how to package it.
Thnx to Christelle for the tip and picture.
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2 reactions:
Nice solution, although you're right that fixing the system would be better than 'fixing' it with instructions.
It does make you think what the people at MS consider "ergonomic", because here they seem to have focussed solely on the physical part...
Hi Bob, it seems to me that in product design/usability jargon 'ergonomic' usually just means 'physical ergonomics' and no the sensorial or cognitive aspects. Which is kind of strange, because usability really is just a way of measuring whether people can fulfil a goal with their product (in an efficient and satisfying way), whereas cognitive, sensorial and physical ergonomics are used to indicate different parts of the ergonomics domain. But I guess that on consumer products 'EASY TO USE!' means 'usable' and 'ERGONOMICALLY DESIGNED' does not mean that the designer had a Microsoft ergonomic keyboard, but that someone paid attention to the physical ergonomical aspects of the design...
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