Taming the User
(or The House of IT Tearaways)

Peter Higginbotham and Katherine Craddock

OUCS

A typical user ...

It should be quite simple really …

Take ownership of the problem

Find out what needs to be solved

Identify an appropriate course of action

Wrap it up!

Taking Ownership of a Problem

Doctor vs. plumber vs. IT Support

Establish the contract – even if this is just an internal acknowledgment to yourself

Puts you in driving seat

Doesn’t mean you have to solve problem

Manage users’ expectations

But then the difficulties begin …

Identifying the Goal

The user may say they are trying to:

Install an email client

Interpret a Windows error message

Generate a TIF file on a scanner

Discover the FTP command for file transfer

Install Kanji fonts

Look for a “graphics” program

However, before leaping in...

Ask what the user is trying to achieve?

What the user really needs may be to:

View an email attachment

Get an essay printed by midday

Get a diagram into a thesis

Update a web page

View Japanese online news

Prepare a presentation

A key question to ask is
“What is it you actually need to do?”

The most appropriate solution?

Is IT really the answer?

Don’t get bogged down in details of inappropriate solutions

Trying to install zip software on Windows XP

Misbehaving s/ware on under-spec systems

Installing PhotoShop to edit a screen shot

Does user have sufficient resources for current solution, e.g. hardware, time?

It can be tricky to pin-point the problem …

Has it ever worked?

Yes, but now not working. What’s changed? Be sceptical if the answer is “nothing”.

Works intermittently. Pattern? e.g. time-of-day, location, existing vs. new files?

Network problems – “do other people around you have similar problems?”

No, has never worked

Take me through
what you’ve done so far...

What steps have you already been through?

Were any steps omitted or unsuccessful?

Were there any error/warning messages?

Have any other solutions been tried (maybe interfering with current strategy)?

Where instructions have been followed

Where did they come from? Up-to-date?

Get user to read out configuration settings (can reveal misinterpretations and typing errors)

Detail, detail, detail...

Exact error messages/codes - often useful search terms in Google etc.

Replicability of problem - does it always happen at exactly the same point?

Generality - e.g.

does it happen with all documents/disks/etc. or just this one?

Does this document/disk/cable/etc. work on other systems?

Never assume anything about...

User e.g. competence, experience, ability to follow instructions, typing skills, location, status

Hardware – PC/Mac, vintage, spec.

Software – version, source/legitimacy

Network – ethernet/broadband/dial-up

Accuracy/completeness of software configurations instructions

While solving the problem, don’t lose track of time …

Time Management - Advisor

Users who give too much information – “Let’s not worry about that just now.”

Users with multiple questions:

Prioritise – identify the most pressing problem

Postpone until solution really needed – avoid the “while I’m here” syndrome.

Offer to research and get back to user

Refer user to courses, web pages etc.

Give instructions for more time-consuming solutions and ask them to come back if problem persists.

Time Management - User

Is the solution time-effective, e.g.

lost files - updating an older backup version or retyping whole thing could be quicker than scanning print-outs or using complex/ unpredictable/expensive file/disk salvage

diagrams etc. - quicker (and possibly better results) to photocopy/cut-and-paste than scan originals. Still a role for the fax machine!

Empowering the User

Tell user what you’re doing, or where an answer came from, e.g. guide them to relevant web page or help-screen.

Suggest routes to future self-help, e.g.

“Always worth trying a web search”

“The Endnote web site has lots on that”

“Try looking up ‘labels’ in the on-screen help”

“There’s an OUCS course on this”

“You could set a bookmark here”

And the biggest challenge of all – the USERS …

Self-Important/Demanding Users

Treat the Vice Chancellor the same way you would treat the college cleaner

No-one has right to pressurise you into

Bending the rules

spending an unreasonable amount of time or effort on trying to fix something

Be polite, be helpful, be detached, be realistic, be assertive

Non-English Speakers

Don’t speak louder – just more slowly and distinctly

Use simple language and try alternative phrasing if you aren’t understood

Sometimes helps to write things down or draw pictures

Don’t panic over foreign Windows versions

Icons are the same

Positioning of menus and within menus is similar

Keyboard shortcuts still work

Ask for a translation

Angry/Frustrated Users

Listen to their frustration/complaints

Sympathise (but don’t give false hope)

Establish what it is they really want to do – they have often lost sight of this

Try and suggest practical alternatives

Be realistic about what can be done with available time/resources especially if user is being overambitious.

“Helpless” Users

Persuade users to try it themselves – hand-hold first steps, give encouragement…

If instructions complicated, highlight the main steps in simple terms.

“It’s designed for ordinary people to do. Of course, if you do get stuck...”

“I’ll do it for you” occasionally best strategy e.g. obscure command-line operations the user will not need to repeat

Over-Inquisitive Users

A job can take twice as long when the user constantly demands details of what you are doing

Find another occupation for them, i.e. ask them to look up information on the web

Suggest they leave the machine with you

Talkative Users

Rambling: interrupt with targeted questions whenever they drift off-course

Too much information: Ask user to summarise the problem – “and then we’ll come back to the details”

Won’t let you in: say “Can we just stop here while I get my bearings” and then sum up problem as you understand it

But always keep in mind …

The Essentials...

Step back from the presented problem

Try to understand the real problem

Don’t get sucked into the details of inappropriate solutions

Don’t assume – check it

Be realistic

Be assertive

Listen to the user

Don’t listen to the user

Phrasebook Essentials

“What is it you actually need to do?”

“Take me through what you’ve done.”

“Does this always happen?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Let’s not worry about that just now.”

“I’m only available until 4:40.”

“It’s better if we leave that until you’ve...”

“You might find it useful to...”

IT Support Staff Conference - Taming the User

23/06/2005

What are you trying to do?

Computing Services

1998-10-02T14:56:02

staff