I suppose we all have things in life that feel annoying; like that small splinter in your finger you can't *see,* but you know it's *there.*

One of my *"splinters"* has long been *"things that don't work properly."* 

 https://i.imgur.com/PVmL9VJ.jpg 

## *Uhhh... What Happened?*

Most recently, I was stopped in my tracks by a website on which I was filling out a rather significant and lengthy application. I worked for a while, got it all done, click *"SUBMIT"*, and... *nothing happens.*

Can't really tell whether *nothing happened* or progress to a *"next page"* was blocked by an error of some kind, or maybe there *was* no *"next"* page, and I don't know whether or not the information I input actually *went* anywhere. 

I didn't get an email conformation, either... but I don't know whether I was *supposed to* get one.

Brings me back to something one of my IT managers said, many many years ago: *"If you don't know how to DO something, don't do it!"*

What's more, if you are *engaging/exchanging information* with your user/customer, it pays to be *painfully obvious* about what they should expect... and then your site should work accordingly.

 https://i.imgur.com/i1yWMPy.jpg 

## *Incomplete Data...*

*"Click here to see your transactions!"*

Well, that looks great — *on paper* — but why is the list *missing* a substantial number of transactions? And why does there not seem to be any discernable pattern to the choice of *which* transactions are displayed... almost like it is *actually* a case of *"click here to your transactions **that were processed while our transaction system was online!**"*

And you certainly don't get to decide — *on my behalf* — which transactions *you* think might be interesting to me. 

This sort of thing is frustrating primarily from the perspective that it reeks of an organization being more concerned with *its own convenience* than with *actual customer/user support.*

 https://i.imgur.com/j5WHvR1.jpg 

## *Yeah, but We're in Beta!*

I really appreciate it when major web properties actually have the integrity to point out that their product is *"in Beta,"* so some errors can be expected.

I don't know if anyone here remembers the early days of Google... and *how long* it was before the word *"Beta"* was removed from next to the Google logo. Gmail took even *longer;* as I recall, it was in Beta for 4-5 *years.*

That's a *long* time.

Except... there seem to be more than a few companies and organizations who use the *"Beta"* label as a justification for all but *halting development,* and so the same old errors keep coming around, no matter *how many* bug reports you submit.

The *worst* of these, of course, is when the *"bug report"* function is one of the things that isn't working!

Why not just admit that you ran out of funds for a full time staff of developers and are just contracting it out to occasional college students... because — after all — the site is still *"sort of working."*

 https://i.imgur.com/6ZnTn7L.jpg 

## *Who ARE You, Anyway?*

Sometimes there's just a complete disconnect between those who *have* a web property, and their intended users.

The textbook historical example was the earliest iterations of the Sony web site. It was this amazing technological and feature-rich marvel, showing off slick web coding and amazing technology for people to wish for... *EXCEPT* the site was so filled with fancy scripts and sophisticated plug-ins that 99% of visitors' computers were completely unable to actually *run* the site on their machines. And even if they *could?* Unless you had a dedicated T3 line, it would take you 10 minutes to get everything loaded!

Total miss. 

Of course, that was a famous extreme from the 1990's. But it happens on a much scale, *all the time.*

The problem?

Usually, it's fairly simple, and can be summed up as *"Developers don't use technology the same way Aunt Myrtle in Omaha uses technology."* Even though the developers *sincerely believe* they are *"dumbing it down,"* it's usually *still* about three steps above the average user's grasp. 

 https://i.imgur.com/DFENMNk.jpg 

## *The "Familiarity Paradox"*

What often happens is that those who are *creating* a technology product *(or web site)* have been around their creation for *so long* that they have completely lost sight of what a person might experience when they see it *for the first time.*

It's about understanding *learning curves.*

We might be lulled into the belief that something is *"pretty simple to use,"* but we say that from the perspective of *already having used it for five years!*

And even if it is *somewhat* easy for someone who's already familiar with the genre, what about someone who's a *total neophyte,* but might become a dedicated supporter... *IF* they start off with a positive user experience?

It's tempting — but often a mistake — to jump to conclusions about *"what people know!"* 

 https://i.imgur.com/O3oDrvY.jpg 

# =^..^=
***Curator Cat, February 9th, 2024*** 
*All images are our own unless otherwise noted*

Posted Using [InLeo Alpha](https://inleo.io/@curatorcat.leo/frustration-fandango-when-web-technology-doesnt-work)