Monday, July 19, 2004
Up for an Ignoble
Each year before the Nobel prizes are awarded, there is a mock ceremony bestowing Ignoble prizes for dubious research. I have a candidate for this year. It comes from a New Scientist story, and it falls under the "Duh" category.
Any PR practitioner could have told the scientist the answer he laboriously reached.
Are you ready? Here is the conclusion of recent research:
Computer glitches would be a lot less annoying if the machines were programmed to acknowledge errors gracefully when something goes wrong, instead of merely flashing up a brusque "you goofed" message. The trick, according to a researcher who has analyzed users' responses to their computers, is to make operating systems and software more "civilised"by saying sorry more often. That way people won't feel they are stupid or at fault, so they become less apprehensive about using computers, and perhaps more productive and creative.
Wow! A Taiwanese scientist conducted a large user study to come to this conclusion. What will scientists discover next -- if you maintain relationships with key publics you are likely to have a better organization overall?
Any PR practitioner could have told the scientist the answer he laboriously reached.
Are you ready? Here is the conclusion of recent research:
Computer glitches would be a lot less annoying if the machines were programmed to acknowledge errors gracefully when something goes wrong, instead of merely flashing up a brusque "you goofed" message. The trick, according to a researcher who has analyzed users' responses to their computers, is to make operating systems and software more "civilised"by saying sorry more often. That way people won't feel they are stupid or at fault, so they become less apprehensive about using computers, and perhaps more productive and creative.
Wow! A Taiwanese scientist conducted a large user study to come to this conclusion. What will scientists discover next -- if you maintain relationships with key publics you are likely to have a better organization overall?
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