Remember the good old days? Software came with a user manual. For complicated software, at least, the manual was indispensable. Complications were dealt with in a way reflecting a focus on procedure. In order to do mail merge, first do this, then this, then this … and so on, until you’re done.
Well, today’s apps are not this way. If there’s a manual at all, it’s online. More often, it’s a few youtube (this and other words herein are most likely trademarked so please assume that where appropriate) videos. However, there is something more fundamental going on. Let’s take your average iOS app. The same is true for Android apps. Such an app, at least if it is popular, is frequently updated. Many of my favorite apps are updated two or three times weekly. Some apps appear to be on an update schedule; others are updated on demand – “we fixed some defects”. Here’s a partial image of my iPhone screen from this morning; after a single day the App Store app has 16 updates.
More importantly, there is no longer a focus on procedure. No written user manual would be effective, because it will be obsolete in two or three updates. They keep changing stuff! They think they’re making their app better for you. Sometimes they are. Inevitably, they change the way things work. In many apps, the only method you can use to get something done is as follows:
- I’ve done this before, now how do I do it?
- Review the screen thoughtfully, and click on something that looks like it might lead to my desired action – this may involve several attempts; a common but not-always-available heuristic is “oh, I remember this icon, let’s try that”
- Repeat step 2 until you’re on a screen containing your desired action, remembering that the icon displayed that means your desired action may not be the same as last time either
This can be incredibly frustrating. Every human enjoys procedure; it allows actions, especially common actions, to be formulated into a habit, so a lower level of thoughtfulness is required to undertake actions. The authors of some of my apps know this and minimize change per unit time where they can. The authors of most of my apps don’t really try, as near as I can tell; they think, “oh, this would be better, let’s do that”.
Finally, the older you are, the more difficult this transition is. Don’t ask me how I know this.