Was walking through an online product demo (as a customer) in a web conference today when the demo guy said, “Let me explain this screen — it can be a bit misleading.” I about busted out laughing. As a customer, I wondered why a company would demo a product screen they knew was misleading. Since it was a web product, changing it (the text) seems to be a very minor thing. One would wonder why they wouldn’t rush to do that. Immediately. But they continued to explain the misleading application dialog, rather than make it right.I watch speakers do the simliar things:
- “I know you can’t read this, but…” Why are you putting something in front of me (and drawing attention to it) when you already know I can’t read it?
- “I know you already know this, but…” If you really think I already know it, then why are you telling me? You either don’t believe yourself, or you’re just that bent on hearing yourself talk.
If you find yourself drawing attention to problems in your content, fix the content (first).
At least they had the decency to own up to their homemade confusion. I helped my first grader with his math homework tonight. Now I just squeaked by in Calculus, but 6 year old math should not be confusing to me. The instructions were entirely unclear as to what was expected. The problems were a new kind that had not been previously discussed in class. Clear instruction/communication/directions are vital, especially when your’e just learning something for the first time.