Re: you want to change user expectations

On 8/16/2011 6:41 PM, Asa Dotzler wrote:
>
>
> Ron Hunter wrote:
>> On 8/16/2011 1:07 PM, Asa Dotzler wrote:
>>> Panda wrote:
>>>> Actually I am dissappointed that the UI team aims to change user
>>>> expectations.
>>>
>>> I'm not really sure how to respond to this.
>>>
>>> It's my opinion that a primary role of a UI/UX designer is to make life
>>> easier for users. If a user's expectation is that something is
>>> difficult, and the UX folks want them to have an experience that's not
>>> difficult, you think that's disappointing?
>>>
>>> - A
>> I think the problem is that users don't always perceive the new way of
>> doing things as easier, given that most people instinctively resist
>> change, and don't like to change their habits.
>
> That is indeed a problem. It's a lot bigger problem than just Firefox
>
> though. That's a part of the human condition. People hated extensions in
> the early days of Firefox development and insisted that all of those
> features be built into the browser. We resisted and today extensions are
> one of the features that every browser wants to copy Firefox on. People
> hated tabbed browsing when we first introduced it in Mozilla -- I can
> remember all the cries of "but the OS is the window manager, not the
> browser". Even self-proclaimed usability experts came down in opposition
> to tabbed browsing and long debates and even flame wars erupted. But we
> stuck to our guns, popularized tabbed browsing, and now every browser
> has followed suit.
>
> It's a truism that users resist change and don't always recognize the
> value of change immediately. Some never do. But over time I think that
> most of the changes that browsers have made over the last decade have
> proved themselves positive. If they hadn't people would not have moved
> from IE6 and that's where the Web would be today.
>
> - A
Funny you should mention people moving from IE6.  One of the problem MS 
addresses often is trying to get people to move from IE6 so they don't 
have to support it.  Unfortunately, there are some people who just WON'T 
move, and likely never will.  Maybe MS should just stop updating it, and 
let all those users continue using it until their systems are so malware 
ridden they collapse.  I suspect that some Mozilla users will do exactly 
the same thing with FF3.6.