Here is a little example:
I developed a high definition video arraignment system for a county in Alabama.
It worked a lot like a video phone with speed dial buttons to call the other locations.
We had just upgraded our system to use a touch screen instead of a mouse. It seems that many of our customers were not comfortable with mice. It only displayed buttons on a touch screen when they were needed.
While installing the system, I used the system to make a video call to the courthouse from the jail. I was sure there were people at the courthouse.
They didn't answer.
I asked someone at the jail to wait 20 minutes and then press the "COURTHOUSE" button on their touch screen.
When I got to the courthouse, I waited. At the appointed time, the speed dial buttons disappeared, and the touch screen displayed:
INCOMING CALL FROM JAIL
Press the answer button to accept the call.
[ANSWER]
This was displayed in red letters an inch tall over the incoming video from the jail. The speakers played the familiar old fashioned ringing sound over and over until you touch the [ANSWER] button on the screen.
I then asked why she hadn't answered. Her reply; "I couldn't find a mouse or keyboard".
Of course, she was not trained, I thought it was so simple that we wouldn't need to do any training.
When I looked at the screen and re-read the prompt, I realized what an idiot I was.
I changed "Press the answer button to accept the call."
To read " Touch this screen to accept the call."
Of course, I also had to make the whole screen active, not just the single [ANSWER] button. I also had to rework several other screens.
The point is:
You don't build user friendly DCC systems by turning over prototypes to a core group of "Beta Testers" or customers who are advanced DCC users.
You learn how to make user friendly DCC systems by handing them to kids who can't read, railroaders who have never used a DCC system, and railroaders who are technophobic.
For today's post, I think a video is in order.
The video is called CHAOS.
My granddaughter, Ally, invited some new neighborhood kids to play with our trains. She was 10 when this was taken.
Ally did all the operator training. She even operated my new camera to capture this video.
In fact, I didn't know she was doing this until she came in to tell me one of our four "visitor" throttles wasn't working. (I had run over the long cord with the lawn mower.) I had find a short throttle cable to connect the throttle.
I made it a point to not say a word to her visitors and let Ally handle everything. In the video, you will see me answering a little girl's question with hand motions. She wanted to know which way to turn the knob. That was the only help I provided.
You will notice that things seemed very chaotic at first, but, toward the end, things settled down.
Ally managed to provide them with chairs, and even served them sodas. After about four hours, they were running four trains at once. They were operating a passenger train between the two stations, and were just getting their feet wet with switching operations and moving loads from one siding to another.
In all, they had a lot of fun, and it was educational for me to watch how Ally handled the whole visit. The boys have been back since and actually volunteered to rake pine needles from the tracks.
