Making ‘User-Friendly’ Meaningful

I recently helped set up a new iMac for my mother, which has gotten me to think about what the term ‘user-friendly’ means these days.

The first thing that struck both of us, after unboxing and taking out the new iMac plus its keyboard, mouse and other accessories, is how little paper documentation comes in that box. What little there was consisted mainly of regulatory and warranty information, with a thin booklet instructing how to get the computer up and running… and then telling you to go online to find out how to use it.

It’s not that there isn’t room in the box for more information, thanks to Apple switching to reinforced cardboard instead of polystyrene for securing the computer for transport. While I can understand that online documentation is — in theory — always up-to-date, that presumes that the new owner can get online to access it. It feels to me like a penny-pinching decision on Apple’s part.

(While this post is about my experience with the iMac, I doubt this is solely an Apple issue.)

The emails we got after the purchase did suggest booking an appointment at our local Apple Store if we wanted to learn how to get the most out of the iMac. While that’s good for new users, I cannot help but wonder if it’s doubling up as a means to tempt them to buy more things and subscribe to various Apple services.

And while Apple does offer documentation online, it’s either web-based or via the Books app. Another way to hook the user into Apple’s services, or am I being overly cynical? (Yes, it’s a free purchase, but then you’re opening the Books app to read it, which means seeing its storefront.)

I was pleased to see that accessibility options are brought up during the initial setup process, though the way they were presented made me wonder if this was more for the benefit of someone setting up the computer for a user with accessibility issues, instead of the user themselves. Crucially (for my mother) there wasn’t an option to change the screen resolution to make text and icons larger at the initial setup — I had to set that for her afterwards.

This strikes me as odd, as the first few screens of the setup process do a good job of guiding the user. It’s as if the accessibility options were a tick-box item, without much effort put into offering the same level of guidance and support.

Another oddity that I came across occurred when I was setting up the connection to my mother’s iCloud account. I entered her login and password and authorised the new connection from her iPad Mini 2, but then it spend an hour or more doing… well, I’m not sure what, but I had to cancel the operation and proceed with the remainder of the setup, then complete the connection to iCloud via System Preferences.

I’ve no idea what the problem was, and I find it infuriating that Apple didn’t put in any check to alert the user after a while and offer to retry.

The final thing I want to mention is what happened after the setup and migration were completed, and in particular how Apple could help users adjust to a new Mac and/or new version of macOS.

Apple’s current approach leaves a lot to be desired. There’s a popup that appears a short time after you start using the Mac for the first time, or following an upgrade of macOS, inviting you to discover new features, but I know from experience that it’s liable to be swatted away because you’re doing something else and don’t want to be interrupted. And all that does is to take you to Apple’s website to show off all the new features briefly.

I cannot shake the feeling that all device manufacturers — not just Apple — believe that their creations are sufficiently easy to use that they require no additional effort on their part to assist the user, and evidence to the contrary merely indicates that it’s the user that at fault for their own lack of knowledge.

How hard would it be to ask, post-setup, if this is their first time using such a device, and enabling an additional layer of assistance? I realise that this is easier to do for larger devices such as tablets, laptops or desktops / all-in-ones, but phones would benefit from this as well. There’s no longer the excuse of limited resources constraining the ability to do this for the majority of devices.