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Me trying to direct the dude at the gas station to the correct nicotine flavor
“Now stop scrolling”
user keeps scrolling
“Seriously stop moving”
user scrolls faster
It is annoying but their ignorance and unwillingness to learn keeps me employed so I try not to complain too much about it. Plus, most of the people I help are generally appreciative and kind so that makes helping them feel like less of a chore. I can also shoot the shit with them for a little bit and break up the monotony in the day. Silver linings and all that
Past*
I don’t use discord. Recently, I tried to get into a community server because what can you do.
They have a bot set up. You get access to an isolated channel and have to confirm you’ve read the rules by checking a checkbox, whatever good that does. People who use discord may know what I’m talking about.
For the life of me, I didn’t get that I have to click the emoji reaction to the post. I write software for a living. I know what reactions to posts are, but they were disabled. Clicking such an emoji to interact with it is a discord exclusive option, usually that opens a list of people who have reacted.
And holy shit was the “community support” dude a dick about it.Sometimes you just have to be patient with people. It might be the most obvious thing to you, and it’s just a blind spot for others, despite everything.
Clicking emoji reactions works the same in MS teams at least.
But yeah, sometimes the supposedly obvious thing just doesn’t click. I’m so blind to a lot of modern UX that people seem to like and need help finding the most basic shit because everything is an icon with no text. And giving directions from looking at a screen is just kind of hard.
Imagine a world where everyone has some CLI for most of the stuff, even if alongside GUI
- How do I X?\
- Ctrl+Alt+T and paste this.
(Even though it’s not good for security)
“I wrote it down and glued it to the screen and its not fixed. Do you even know how to do your job?”
You want not good for security? Just ssh into their machine and fix it from a terminal.
This is what clickfix is based on.
Listen here, buddy. That needs to be labeled “not safe for IT” because it gave me PTSD.
Apologies
Your clients knew how to use the mouse?!?
I had a guy who literally couldn’t use a mouse. Master’s Degree in electrical engineering, used to manage a department of 10 engineers.
Then he developed a glue huffing habit and ended up working for us…
Nightmare fuel
I asked a client to close all open windows and he literally stood up and shut all windows in his apartment. I’ve had heard that as a bad joke before, but i experienced it live during a support call.
Edit: another highlight was the client who answered the question what 56k modem she used with the words: “My modem is lit up and colorful.”
We had a ticket that escalated to a P1 because a key worker kept having trouble with MFA.
I took the escalation and went through the login process. They had configured phone call mfs which the robot would say “press # to confirm your access”.
They were pressing # on their computer keyboard.
<Picard facepalm>
The spread in knowledge between clients, and what we could actually accomplish with them was enormous. We had one client whose NT4.0 died completely during installation of a modem driver (wtf btw. But nowadays your antivirus company remotely kills your os).
We actually went along and helped him reinstall NT incl. everything network over the phone, and it went well. (Took a few hours tho, installation from 3.5" disks was never the fastest thing)
And then you had clients where making them focus enough on the action on the screen was nearly impossible, making the easiest things a 30 minute call.
I’ve had heard that as a bad joke before, but i experienced it live during a support call.
This reminds me of a turkish standup bit. Paraphrased :
You know we have these regional jokes about people from the north right? Well, I went to do a show there, and I didn’t realise that those jokes are actually events that happen there every day. While I was there, I ended up being in several of these jokes, and in one of them, I was the englishman! When we were trying to get back , I went up to an older gent and I said “uncle, do you know where the airport is” and he responded to me “the airplane airport?” No, there’s a ZEPPLIN that takes off from Rize every half an hour, direct to Istanbul!
You went past it, not you went passed it. Or you (just) went and passed it. Or you passed it.
The issue with my dad is that he does thing with computer seldom enough that he forgets. He packs away his laptop and prefer i do the regular things for him. (i refuse this) He could do it more often or write it down. But he is lazy. So he needs directions every time. When he intends to copy or move files, he still drags files, droping it randomly somewhere on the explorer window and making a mess. Then he loudly shouts in frustration, when his files are not where he expects. I keep telling him to not use drag and drop. I should disable that.
This is why modern media players try to find your media based on metadata, ignoring file structure.
I don’t know how much easier it can get than drag and drop. Do you mean copy/cut and paste, because I don’t think remembering paths for the CLI is easier.
He just kind of drags a folder or file to the window, which may have a list of many folders and stares blankly, like a cat, then drops the file somewhere there. He has been instructed to drop it on the background surface if he want it in that folder and on a folder if he wants it in there. Doesn’t matter he forgets and just does.
When I force him to use right, click-copy/move or ctrl+c/v, he is forced to think about what and to where.
I think he doesn’t want to think. Mental bump to overcome that he avoids. Exactly what old people should not do. He needs to be forced to use that brain.
This is why modern media players try to find your media based on metadata, ignoring file structure.
Which is a nice option, but I geneally need a well presented visual way to find things too because I frequently forget the names due to ADHD. Visual reminders are great when I can’t think of the name.
Remote control is the way to solve this. Non-technical people are not good input devices
and then they get angry and bitch about you being rude, unhelpful and how you “didn’t know how to fix the problem”.
I have to regularly help my aging mother (and sometimes neighbors) with their phones. The damn thing of every manufacturer having their own Android version(s)/skin(s), and UI/UX designers changing the layout every new version of an app, makes me want to violently slap their collective faces with a large trout
How can she
/slap?Last time I checked, both AnyDesk and RustDesk can remote access Android phones. You will need to set it up in person, because the install is too complicated for non-technical person.
You will need to set it up in person, because the install is too complicated for non-technical person.
but also because whatever you search for in the play store, you are lucky if the first result with big font and icon is not malware but just a competitor to what you actually wanted. and guess what will people install. outrageous.
also afaik rustdesk had an abuse problem and now you can only connect aftet a bigtech login… or with a custom server.
The annoying part of this is that any good UX person will tell you not to keep changing things around, but they get overruled by MBAs and shareholders.
the newest feature MUST BE most obvious so the metrics make it look worthwhile.
The metrics are the most important thing, haven’t you gone to business school?
Literally the shutdown menu being replaced by that shitty ai menu on android. and no manufacturer can object to it cause its a google requirement for being allowed to ship the play store…
Pretty sure that’s copying a change Apple made first, turning the power button into an assistant button. Because adding another button for that, is obviously out of the question.
My phone has a dedicated assistant button and the power button is separate. The assistant button can be programmed to do a few different things based on if you short, long or double press it. Some of the functions aren’t AI. Some.
That ex0lains where that bullshit came from…
I don’t narrate clicking and typing directions to people anymore. If you want my help, you stand up and I sit down.
Sometimes giving the fish is the right choice.
Teach a man to fish, tomorrow he has already forgotten. If he was going to catch his own fish, he would have learned how to long before this.
If you try, you might fail. The lesson is : never try.
This is the way
The thing I learned from help desk was a profiency at mastering the mute button.
Right up until you miss the button and don’t notice. Or it just decides not to mute you. And then your customer gets an earful of just how you feel about them. And then you get an earful about how your manager feels about you.
The thing I learned from help desk was how to say “Thank you sir, and have a nice day!” outloud but actually mean “Eat shit and die, you asshole” in my head
