Grandma-Friendly Browsing
Friday, 9. June 2006, 02:27:18
Foreword: For more info, see Writing a Grandma-Friendly Opera browser tutorial at OperaWatch.com
I slapped together a few screenshots of my Opera 8 and Opera 9 copies on my computer. (See My Opera Album) My Opera 8 copy has a large toolbar which makes the browser strongly resemble Internet Explorer or Firefox, which makes it a bit easier to transition over.
When I got Opera 9, I decided that I was using Mouse Gestures and Keyboard Shortcuts enough that I really didn't need to waste extra screen space on a particularly large toolbar setup like in IE.
However, to any senior starting to lose their eyesight or fine motor coordination, smaller buttons are going to make it near impossible. For any non-tech-savvy user, the change to a small toolbar with a different location for the navigation buttons will be difficult. They're not going to want to try to use Mouse Gestures, as they're very confusing for someone who isn't already tech-savvy and wants to know how to optimize their browsing experience. Additionally, many non-tech-savvy users just "want the computer to work" and don't want to have to relearn how to browse the web (for all those people out there who are doing good to read email, write a word document, and click a few links on web pages), so by keeping a very similar layout to IE (which is what they were probably previously browsing on), it minimizes the frustration for them. It's like having a safer version of IE without a red "O" in the corner instead of a green "e" — since the browser setup would be nearly identical (I doubt they'd want to probe around under the Tools » Preferences menu at all.
Upon reading comments on this post, I'd also remove the Fast Forward and Rewind buttons, since these are confusing and an advanced feature.
I would like to recommend to Opera to issue an easy way to switch from the Large toolbar to the Small toolbar (FF lets you do that). (Or perhaps have a "Beginners Edition", where Mouse Gestures and Keyboard shortcuts are disabled by default so that seniors don't get confused when the page changes and they are unaware that they did anything.. this Beginners Edition would feature the large, IE-like toolbar).
I think at this point, the functionality of Opera mimics the functionality of IE if you don't try to use any advanced features. A tutorial is not particularly necessary. Make sure not to cover keyboard shortcuts except Cut-Copy-Paste, Print, New Tab, and maybe a few others. Oh, that's the difference between this "Beginners Edition" copy and IE: tabs. Describe how they work and how to use them. Describe sessions so that they can save whatever they're working on, close it, and open it for later (though usually just checking email doesn't require sessions, so perhaps this isn't needed). Make sure to describe Bookmarks, since they want to be able to remember that site that you told them about. Tell them about the Google Search menu (and perhaps [g query_goes_here]). And then people with imperfect eyesight need to know about "Fit To Page" and Zoom. Sometimes pages hang, especially when on 56k, so the Reload button might be worth mentioning (and since by default, new documents and images are only checked once every 5 hours unless the Refresh button is used, they may be like "why isn't it displaying correctly!?"). Searching a page for text is useful for finding info and not spending all day doing it; this'll speed them up. They'll want to know Wand, since remembering passwords can be tough. They'll also need to know if they need to check for updates of the browser, so they don't get out of date software with security holes. Pages accidentally get closed: mention the Trash can to restore those "oops" moments.
To sum up what features I'd want in a "basic" tutorial:
And hide all of the advanced features from them--they don't want to be confused. Let's make this an easy transition for them. Hide the sidebar Panel by default (along with the Panel toggle). Hide Forward/Rewind.
Use large buttons that more closely resemble Internet Explorer and are easier to click for Grandmas (I like small buttons, but we're talking about making a setup for Grandma here.)
Grandma-Friendly:
Not-so-Grandma-Friendly:
I slapped together a few screenshots of my Opera 8 and Opera 9 copies on my computer. (See My Opera Album) My Opera 8 copy has a large toolbar which makes the browser strongly resemble Internet Explorer or Firefox, which makes it a bit easier to transition over.When I got Opera 9, I decided that I was using Mouse Gestures and Keyboard Shortcuts enough that I really didn't need to waste extra screen space on a particularly large toolbar setup like in IE.
However, to any senior starting to lose their eyesight or fine motor coordination, smaller buttons are going to make it near impossible. For any non-tech-savvy user, the change to a small toolbar with a different location for the navigation buttons will be difficult. They're not going to want to try to use Mouse Gestures, as they're very confusing for someone who isn't already tech-savvy and wants to know how to optimize their browsing experience. Additionally, many non-tech-savvy users just "want the computer to work" and don't want to have to relearn how to browse the web (for all those people out there who are doing good to read email, write a word document, and click a few links on web pages), so by keeping a very similar layout to IE (which is what they were probably previously browsing on), it minimizes the frustration for them. It's like having a safer version of IE without a red "O" in the corner instead of a green "e" — since the browser setup would be nearly identical (I doubt they'd want to probe around under the Tools » Preferences menu at all.
Upon reading comments on this post, I'd also remove the Fast Forward and Rewind buttons, since these are confusing and an advanced feature.
I would like to recommend to Opera to issue an easy way to switch from the Large toolbar to the Small toolbar (FF lets you do that). (Or perhaps have a "Beginners Edition", where Mouse Gestures and Keyboard shortcuts are disabled by default so that seniors don't get confused when the page changes and they are unaware that they did anything.. this Beginners Edition would feature the large, IE-like toolbar).
I think at this point, the functionality of Opera mimics the functionality of IE if you don't try to use any advanced features. A tutorial is not particularly necessary. Make sure not to cover keyboard shortcuts except Cut-Copy-Paste, Print, New Tab, and maybe a few others. Oh, that's the difference between this "Beginners Edition" copy and IE: tabs. Describe how they work and how to use them. Describe sessions so that they can save whatever they're working on, close it, and open it for later (though usually just checking email doesn't require sessions, so perhaps this isn't needed). Make sure to describe Bookmarks, since they want to be able to remember that site that you told them about. Tell them about the Google Search menu (and perhaps [g query_goes_here]). And then people with imperfect eyesight need to know about "Fit To Page" and Zoom. Sometimes pages hang, especially when on 56k, so the Reload button might be worth mentioning (and since by default, new documents and images are only checked once every 5 hours unless the Refresh button is used, they may be like "why isn't it displaying correctly!?"). Searching a page for text is useful for finding info and not spending all day doing it; this'll speed them up. They'll want to know Wand, since remembering passwords can be tough. They'll also need to know if they need to check for updates of the browser, so they don't get out of date software with security holes. Pages accidentally get closed: mention the Trash can to restore those "oops" moments.
To sum up what features I'd want in a "basic" tutorial:
- Basic Shortcuts
- Tabs
- Bookmarks
- Google Search Menu
- Zoom / Fit To Page
- Refresh
- Find on Page
- Wand
- Check for Updates
- Trash Can for Closed Windows
And hide all of the advanced features from them--they don't want to be confused. Let's make this an easy transition for them. Hide the sidebar Panel by default (along with the Panel toggle). Hide Forward/Rewind.
Use large buttons that more closely resemble Internet Explorer and are easier to click for Grandmas (I like small buttons, but we're talking about making a setup for Grandma here.)
Grandma-Friendly:
Not-so-Grandma-Friendly:
WIDGETIZE