I've had to train about 500 users in the past six months in small groups of 1-5 each. The application is a moderately complex web app with tabbed windows and a drop down menu that has the different actions you can take. I noticed that certain people tend to "get it" faster than others regardless of age, sex, race etc., and I think that these groups correspond to the Myers-Briggs test.
Myers-Briggs is a way of grouping people into common personality types. There are generally 4 groups (some tests further break down the categories). They are:
- friendlies : the "let's just get along" people. An example might be someone in customer service who really likes their job and likes helping people out.
- expressive : the "here's my big idea, ignore the details people". Examples are sales people and entreprenuers.
- drivers : the "damn the torpedos we're getting this done my way" people. Examples are bosses (and bossy people).
- analyticals : the leave me in a room by myself and I'll get it done. Programmers are typically analyticals.
There are communication problems between the groups. Each group has a different desired outcome and a different way of expressing themselves. For example, friendlies want all groups in the conversation to be happy, and friendlies tend to be introverted. Drivers are typically extroverted, and they want the task/job complete regardless of stepping on people's toes. Imagine the "conversation" between a driver boss ordering a friendly to do something. The friendly will nod and say yes to reduce friction in the conversation, but the conversation will be totally one-sided from the driver.
You get the picture. So the application I'm training people on designed by an analytical, but it has to "communicate" to all four personality types. During training, I notice that people who fall in the analytical and driver categories pick up the training/application quickly without much fuss. The analyticals tend to stay quiet or ask very focused questions. The drivers complain about having to use the system etc. Expressives and friendlies tend to not understand the system without major hand holding. I'm not sure why this is.
Have you ever designed a system and the way you laid it out makes perfect sense to you, but someone else does not? It could be a communication issue.
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I've had to train about 500 users in the past six months in small groups of 1-5 each. The application is a moderately complex web app with tabbed windows and a drop down menu that has the different actions you can take. I noticed that certain people tend to "get it" faster than others regardless of age, sex, race etc., and I think that these groups correspond to the Myers-Briggs test.
:
Myers-Briggs is a way of grouping people into common personality types. There are generally 4 groups (some tests further break down the categories). They are
- friendlies : the "let's just get along" people. An example might be someone in customer service who really likes their job and likes helping people out.
- expressive : the "here's my big idea, ignore the details people". Examples are sales people and entreprenuers.
- drivers : the "damn the torpedos we're getting this done my way" people. Examples are bosses (and bossy people).
- analyticals : the leave me in a room by myself and I'll get it done. Programmers are typically analyticals.
There are communication problems between the groups. Each group has a different desired outcome and a different way of expressing themselves. For example, friendlies want all groups in the conversation to be happy, and friendlies tend to be introverted. Drivers are typically extroverted, and they want the task/job complete regardless of stepping on people's toes. Imagine the "conversation" between a driver boss ordering a friendly to do something. The friendly will nod and say yes to reduce friction in the conversation, but the conversation will be totally one-sided from the driver.
You get the picture. So the application I'm training people on designed by an analytical, but it has to "communicate" to all four personality types. During training, I notice that people who fall in the analytical and driver categories pick up the training/application quickly without much fuss. The analyticals tend to stay quiet or ask very focused questions. The drivers complain about having to use the system etc. Expressives and friendlies tend to not understand the system without major hand holding. I'm not sure why this is.
Have you ever designed a system and the way you laid it out makes perfect sense to you, but someone else does not? It could be a communication issue.