The Computer Guide To Dummies

First, A Word About Dummies

Let’s be absolutely clear what I’m talking about here: dummies come in all shapes and sizes, short and tall, thin and diet challenged. They come in all races and gender preferences. But one thing unites them: for the most part, they are anything but dumb.

Some have spent years gaining experience in their respective fields of endeavor. Some are newly minted, fresh out of school or college, ready to apply their keen minds to corporate domination. More than a few of them have spent decades learning and re-learning how to do the same few things on completely different computers as technology comes and goes.

About the only thing they are actually dumb about is how you have chosen to code this particular system, where you have chosen to hide the exact things that they need to do all day long.

Be Obvious

So whether you’re creating something new, or rebuilding some legacy app, make everything really obvious.

Most people will spend 80% of their time in your app using 20% of your interface. Or if you’re working on Microsoft Office, then it’s more like 95% using 5%. It’s easy to enough for your dummies to Google that thing they need once a year, if you do work at Microsoft or Adobe, but for everyone else, be honest — is your…