[Kde-pim] jargon is bad! :)

[David Jarvie]

On Tue, March 16, 2010 5:32 pm, Aaron J. Seigo wrote:
> On March 16, 2010, Allan Sandfeld Jensen wrote:
>> On Tuesday 16 March 2010, Tom Albers wrote:
>>> I've indicated that 'Workspaces' on www.kde.org got some users in my
office
>>>  confused, it is still there by lack of alternative. There is a lot of
jargon around and I don't consider it bad. When you buy a car, you
want cruise control, abs, traction control, airbags, TDI, etc. They
don't
sell
>>>  those as 'easy driving', 'good breaks', 'no slips', 'comfortable at
impact' and 'cheap fuel motor'.
>
> as you note, cars are sold with things like "ABS" which is jargony, but
the best that can be done, and which they've educated people as to the
meaning;
> not unlike, say, "email" and "instant messaging". they are also jargon, but
> jargon we live with because we have to and because the education has
been done.
>
> but do you know what brand of brake pad comes in your new car? probably
not. what matters is that it has ABS, not that it's the Bosch IPS21 that
is providing the stopping friction. well, maybe if you're a car
enthusiast it matters :)
>
> we're not actually talking about promo when we discuss jargon in the UI.
we're
> talking about the user interface and the satisfaction of people using it.
>
> by means of story: imagine if while driving your car something is going
wrong
> with the braking system and your car computer pops up a warning light on
the
> dashboard that reads "The Bosch IPS21 has worn down. Go to the nearest
mechanics shop at your convenience." hmmmm... 'how important is the
"Bosch IPS21"?' asks the driver who was just trying to get in to the
office, but who is now distracted and uncomfortable because he doesn't
know if he's now driving a timebomb on wheels or what. did that message
give the driver useful
> information while they are whizzing down the autobahn at high speed? is
it the
> time to really be trying to add to the Bosch brand value? (doubly so
since they are failing, not the time you want people to be forming
associations with your brand ;)
>
> of course, in reality, you get a "Brakes failing" message, or maybe even
"ABS!" on some cars. while ABS is jargon, it's as "good" as they can get
it and it usually comes with the "brakes" icon for good measure. but
they never say "Bosch".
>
> Akonadi is not like "ABS". "email" is like "ABS". Akonadi is like Bosch.
>
> when a person is trying to use the software, just as when they are
driving their car, they deserve to get clear as possible information
about what is going on so they can at least feel comfortable and at best
make sensible decisions.

I agree. The difference between the car jargon which Tom cites and things
like Akonadi or Nepomuk is that for the most part the car jargon is
reasonably self-explanatory, whereas Akonadi/Nepomuk cannot possibly be
understood without prior knowledge or reference to a glossary. True, ABS
isn't obvious, but at least it's an acronym for something which is, and
it's also a widely known term. Your analogy with the Bosch IPS21 is spot
on in highlighting the effect on a non-technical user of seeing such a
term.

> the marketing and promo can happen when they aren't operating the
machine in an attempt to get something done.
>
>> Fortunately you don't need to be a majority to be right :) Still Aaron
also> have a point. Using the name only might be confusing to a user,
the terminology should be discoverable, so in my opinion; if there is
no other
>> context then the term needs to be atleast implicitly explained by the
text where it is used.
>
> +1
>
> there are certainly times we can't get away from "jargon" because there
simply
> is no other word or phrase out there. we are in the business of creating
technology, after all, and sometimes that means we make something new.
>
> the point is not to become gratuitous about it and use jargon just
because we can (or are busy thinking about other important things, like
making sure our
> software doesn't eat people's data :) when there are words/phrases that
we can use which are plain language and understandable by many/most
people.

I know from experience that non-technical users can often fail to
understand or pay attention to even plain English messages without any
technical terms. Some users don't have any basic understanding of
computers and have no interest in them beyond what is necessary to perform
their tasks. If they see a technical term they will just dismiss the
message without any attempt to understand it. Only if the message persists
and they can't do what they want to do, will they then complain to whoever
does their technical support (at work or at home) and ask them to sort it
out. So it really is important not to use the user interface as a way of
promoting brand names, but to only use them where it really is necessary -
and even then give the main explanation in normal language with the 'brand
name' relegated to a subsidiary role in the message for technical support
purposes.

-- 
David Jarvie.
KDE developer.
KAlarm author - http://www.astrojar.org.uk/kalarm

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