[PLUG] Whack-a-mole Install? (Y/N)

[guy1656]

Reply regarding Re: [PLUG] .AVI RPM player Advice from Russ Johnson:
: At 08:02 PM 7/11/2002 -0700, you wrote:
: >4. Press "OK" until all the dialog boxes go away. (Note: You do not have
: > to actually *read* any of the dialog boxes. Think of playing
: > 'Whack-a-mole,' but with your mouse pointer - the faster you hit those
: > "OKs," the sooner you get to watch your AVI's. The fewer that appear, the
: > better the program is.)

:
: Having been a technical support engineer for a large software firm, I
: cringe when I read something like this.
:
: Expect software to work like a Kleenex (pull it out of the box and it's
: ready to use) 
:
: If someone clicks 'OK' as fast as they can, and then it doesn't work as
: they expect, well, I have no sympathy for them.

Note that I didn't include the Whack-a-mole install method in the 'serious' 
section of the letter. What I -was- pointing out, though is that this is the 
way most users think, and it's the sort of user behavior that can get 
conditioned in - I actually first heard it described in a report of a power 
plant accident - operators had gotten used to cancelling alarm klaxons 
without checking 'what did I just turn off' - and in one particular plant 
this had actually become somewhat of an autonomic reflex.

In the investigation following the accident ( a steam line rupture to a power 
turbine - I hate when that happens, but you can make off with plenty of squab 
if you can get to the roof quick enough - bring salt and pepper.) several 
operators had been asked 'what alarm did you just cancel?' after being 
observed, and they were unable to answer. At least one such operator denied, 
or was unaware of cancelling the alarm.

The data record showed that one particular alarm on the turbine that failed 
had been cancelled TWENTY-SIX times in a row, within less than an hour. "In 
effect," the report read, "the machine said 'OK Fine, I give up trying to 
warn you. You win. I die now.' "

A similar sort of double-return hit can get conditioned into user behavior if 
a common task (delete, erase) is ALWAYS followed by 'Are you SURE? (Y/N)'

In any case, thanks for the 'real' suggestions, - I'll see how it goes.

GLL