We don’t need no education
Even though an education would have prevented the writer of the above statement from using a double negative, this should be the motto of anyone serious about usability in their software.
A study by Professor Sugata Mitra has been tracking the usage of internet linked computers they embedded in walls in Delhi, India. The study found that the slum children, who had little education and never used a computer before, quickly picked up the skills to use the computer and the internet.
One of our targets when testing software for usability is enable an adult to sit down and be use the software to perform it’s functions without training or instructions. (This is arguably a tougher goal although we may assume the adult has used a computer before.)
While intuitive software isn’t the only usability indicator it is one of the most important (and fun) to aim for.