If you had a friend who'd never used a personal computer before... Would you suggest they use Mac or Windows?

There is little modern applications do to guide people who have never used a computer. Even when focusing on new users, designers tend to take for granted that users understand basic concepts such as cursors, text boxes, and buttons. And, perhaps, rightfully so – if all software could accommodate people like Joe, it would be little but instructions on how to do each new task.

No matter their skill level, users will try to make sense of a new situation by leveraging what they know about previous situations. Joe knew nothing about computers, so he focused on the only item he recognized: text. We shouldn’t assume that new users will inquisitively try and discover how new software works by clicking buttons and trying things out.

Joe found using software for the first time to be frightening and only continued at my reassurance and (sometimes) insistence. If he was on his own in an internet cafe, I think he would have given up and left after a minute or so. Don’t make too many assumptions about how users will benefit from your technology – they may surprise you!