satorimedia

One of the most satisfying parts of my career is making technology friendly. That is, teaching people the overwhelming principle:

Technology wants to work.

If people are going to anthropomorphize it anyway ("Why does this coffee maker hate me?") they might as well project a friendly-but-stupid persona on whatever they're trying to fix.

Over a couple of decades of troubleshooting AV equipment (yes, I used to use tape to splice 16mm film reels) I've come up with a few rules that, in my experience, solve approximately 92.8% of all techilical diccifuddies.*

1. It works better if you plug it in.
2. It works better if you turn it on.
3. It sounds better if you turn it up.
4. It looks better if you light it.
5. Somebody, somewhere, thought that running this would be intuitive.

Its that last rule that is often the most useful, as you're looking for the "record" button or trying to figure out how to get that DVD player to show up on your HDMI screen. I was reminded of it by Rick Sloboda's recent post to CMS Wire. In it, he states:

"Effective web content isn’t about flashy graphics and fancy words. It’s about communicating key messages and getting tasks completed...Simple connects" (emphasis added)

Same applies to technology. I'll match my flashlight and facial expressions against your $7000 video projector any day if my message is more powerful than yours, because I'll establish a connection with my audience before you've even got the bulb warm. On the other hand...couple a powerful message and effective delivery with that high-tech presentation gear, and we've got the makings of effective marketing. But that's a subject for a future post.

Speaking of powerful, effective message delivery, a tip of the hat to Heidi Miller for the link to CMS Wire.

*Figure based on the rule that 2/3 of all statistics are completely made up.