Missing Features

For better or for worse, Windows programmers love wizards. Some are easy to use and some are just awful.

The Add New Network wizard in Windows XP always takes more time to progress through then it probably should. Do you know why? Can you spot the major usability flaw? Take a look:

The major flaw in this wizard is terrible readability.

Readability describes how easy (or hard) a set of text is to read by a user. Good readability means text is presented in a format that enables fast text scanning and information consumption by a user. Good readability allows a user to ready text faster; bad readability slows the user down.

The two major mistakes in this example are the selection of bold text and the word choice. First, bold should call out key terms for which the user might be looking. In this wizard, the programmer choose to bold “Connect to a network at my workplace.” But when a user is trying to setup VPN to check some work email, they are looking for the word “VPN.”

This relates to the second problem: word choice. Why isn’t the selection for VPN called simply VPN? Why bother describing it a different way, thus adding a middle layer between what the user wants and how the program says it?

This is also a great example of why it’s critical for programmers to be well versed in the topic is usability. A small decision by the programmer here created a headache for every time a business user of Windows XP needed get setup to check his work email at home.

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