Is it okay to call the reader's target audience stupid?

Question

I'm a tech genre author, and have already published one book on Android development. However, this book was focused more on the developer of the apps, than the user.

Now I'm working on my second book, which is on app UI. In this book, there is a lot of focus on the usability of the apps, making it as easy as possible for the end user to accomplish the task.

Among developers, you can frequently find statements in casual chats saying stuff like users are stupid, if your software is idiot proof, a better idiot will be its user etc, all basically saying that users do not think the way we do, and what might be blindingly obvious to us, is not so obvious to them.

I'm asking if it's acceptable to say things like the following in a proper printed book:

Users are stupid/dumb/something. You need to position your UI elements in such a way that it is impossible to miss, and make its function so clear that even the dumbest user cannot fail to understand it.

Answer 1

No, users are not stupid, it's usually the designers that are. A good UI requires a solid understanding of HCI (Human Computer Interaction) concepts, which range from understanding the target audience, to cognitive load theory.

You might be able to get away with "idiot proof", since it's a cliché. Personally I'd avoid painting the users with a broad brush, simply because you're already shaping your readers idea of their audience, instead of informing them to go out and investigate for themselves.

Answer 2

It is one of the things that irritates me, the fact that users are so often considered "dumb". They are not. In many cases, they are more intelligent that the designers, it just may be that their skills are different.

It is better to say that the users are not familiar with the technical issues involved. Or that the best UX solution is to make the front end as clear and straightforward as possible.

It is not about how clever the users are. It is about whether they want to get involved in complex and fancy nerdy stuff, or just get on with their work.

Answer 3

There's a problem here: Saying something like, "users are stupid," makes you look ignorant.

As other have said, the fault isn't always with the user; sometimes, a product is poorly designed. And, even though some users will search frantically for the "ANY" key, many other users are proficient, not dumb.

I realize you mean the statement tongue-in-cheek, but you risk coming across as shallow if you state it in such simplistic terms.

I'd recommend:

You need to position your UI elements in such a way that it is impossible to miss, and make its function so clear that even the most novice users won't fail to understand it.

Answer 4

Nothing to do with intelligence

I would instead write something like this.

You should try to make it obvious how to use your app, recognizing that it is there to serve the user. Imagine a brain surgeon trying to use Skype to consult with a colleague. This user has limited time and attention. She does not want to spend 30 seconds figuring out how to place a call. She has plenty of non-obvious questions to consider, and doesn't want "how do I use this?" to be one of them.

Making your app intuitive will make it a pleasure to use, and will keep your users coming back to spend their valuable time using your product.

There are limits to how easy you can make something. A surgeon's computerized tools will inherently require expertise, and the surgeon will be willing to invest time learning them. But even these tools shouldn't present unnecessary difficulty, and should let the surgeon focus mainly on the surgery and not on the tools.

The goal of good UI is to get out of the way and help the user do a task.

Answer 5

No, it's not okay. Why not simply give your advice as something to make an app great because its visual appeal and intuitiveness make it easy to use? As someone with some recent experience in an HCI/UI design group, as well as lifelong experience as a user of technology, I think it is the developer's job to make a great UI so the user can spend less time navigating and more time doing. People should be used to seamless design as the expected norm, not just something done to humor them.

I'd also like to point out that things "blindingly obvious" to a developer are only so because they made the thing; it might not be so obvious to another developer unfamiliar with the code. Think of UI design as retail; the customer is always right. :)

Answer 6

I sympathize with the sentiment, but no, you can't use "black humor" and "shop talk" in a book like that. Such comments have to be kept in-house and preferably not written down. We all complain about horrible clients and idiots at the DMV and so on, but you shouldn't actually codify that into written advice.

Users as a group are too diverse to call them all stupid. Any one of your users is expert in something which you as a designer/programmer won't understand, and the user could call you "stupid" for not grasping something which seems "obvious" in his/her field.

Your goal is to make the end result easy for any user, no matter the technical background, to understand. That does require a lot of work on your part (and the part of your readers). If you object to the idea that part of your job is to make things easier for someone else, you should change jobs.

Answer 7

I would say that yes, it is acceptable. Obviously it's an oversimplification, and the average user of any particular Android app will be approximately as intelligent as the average human being. However, if you don't feel that you need to go into the rationale behind Don't Make Me Think simple design philosophies, then you may find "users are stupid" to be an effective shorthand.

I highly doubt you will cause much offence to your readers with such shorthands, though some may find them unconvincing.

Answer 8

I don't think calling users as a general group stupid is appropriate in a development book. It would be appropriate in places where developers or customer-service reps vent to each other and try to top each other's "who's had to help the biggest idiot?" stories.

It's also not really relevant to the point you're making. Users might have any number of reasons for not noticing a feature that the developer thinks is obvious: they're in a hurry to finish a task, they have visual problems the developer didn't account for, they're not familiar with standard symbols or conventions, etc. Making things clear will help all those groups of people, whether they're smart or dumb.

Another problem with "Users are dumb" is that it can breed an attitude of resentment and condescension, rather than the idea that your job is to help the user accomplish a task or do something fun.

Answer 9

Users are not dumb; they are busy, and their attention is on things other than using your software.

Answer 10

Well it is clearly an insult. So, if your book is supposed to have users as a target group, then it might not be wise to insult them.

Also, to conclude from someone's trouble finding an icon somewhere (or similar struggles) that this person would be stupid... well, this does not make you look so bright either (if I may say so.).

You could, however, make an allusion, something more implicit that lets the reader conjecture your point of view, without directly insulting the average book reader. People that are then more 'on your side' will get what you mean and might smile to themselves and the usual - as you might say 'stupid' - reader does not even realize what you mean, and thus, does not feel insulted.

Answer 11

It's completely your decision, and the decision you make will help contribute to your writing style (which is why some writers are successful and some are not). So, therefore, you're asking for an opinion on writing styles and what decision we would make.

Mine is that you don't resort to this approach of establishing a light-hearted way of making the point that software should be developed with simplicity in mind. It's almost insulting and certainly shows a lack of imagination.

Also take into consideration the fact that, one day, you may choose to go down the avenue of writing for users of apps - I'd imagine it's not a good business move to unnecessarily call potential customers idiots.

Look at the reaction in this thread - that should be enough of an indication that calling users 'dumb' and 'idiots' can annoy people.

By you asking this initial question - it's almost as if you want to take this approach - in which case, I don't like your writing style at all and would think of it as less articulate than most successful technical evangelists.

Answer 12

Please write in whatever style is necessary to get the information across in a memorable way.

Please write in a way that makes the reader actually smarter, even if it makes you sound a little silly rather "intelligent" or "professional". ( a, b )

Some of my favorite authors occasionally call users "stupid" ( c ).

My users generally are pre-occupied with something else, or are stressed by time pressures, or have not yet learned or have forgotten what I think are some of the niftiest parts of my application.

It's quite all right to remind me that every user has occasional mental glitches, and it's my responsibility to make sure such momentary awkwardness doesn't lead to something horrible, like erasing a hard drive or leaking a credit-card number to the bad guys.

It's also quite all right to remind me that all humans can keep only a finite number of things in their heads at any one time, so I need to design a system that works even when my users are unable to give it their full attention.

On the other hand, if you tell me I can blame the mistakes my users make entirely on those users, and it's OK to do nothing to help them, you are doing them and me a disservice.

Answer 13

Among developers, you can frequently find statements in casual chats saying stuff like users are stupid, if your software is idiot proof, a better idiot will be its user etc, all basically saying that users do not think the way we do, and what might be blindingly obvious to us, is not so obvious to them.

"Users are stupid" is a pernicious attitude that many software developers have, and the world would be a better place if it could be eliminated. (For what it's worth, I've worked as a software engineer; I have a Ph.D. in computer science; and I now do research in the area of human-computer interaction. I've seen this attitude before.)

Back to business with an analogy: I've had to deal with medical doctors lately, on the patient side, and it's relatively easy to tell whether a doctor has a similar attitude: "Patients are stupid." How do you think our interaction worked? Not as well as it might have. Ditto car mechanics, lawyers, accountants, and anyone with specialized expertise. Some software developers seem to mistake inexperience or ignorance or lack of interest for stupidity. "I can program and you can't--you must be stupid." That sound ridiculous, just as it should.

I think it's a bad idea to encourage your readers to think of the users of their software as being stupid. It's not true, and in the end it will make it harder for them to take the user's perspective when building their systems.

Answer 14

It is never good practice to insult readers, consumers. If you write for pay, they write your paychecks.