Patience Thresholds for Technology
In this video, an employee becomes frustrated with the inability to do a print-screen and finds a convenient workaround. This was one of the top videos on Digg today.
Although some users like to troubleshoot and solve problems, there is another class of users that have an exceptionally low tolerance for technical problems. We all have our different thresholds. Last year my wife broke our laptop by banging on it out of technical frustration. Many find that if something isn't immediately understandable, their level of stress surges. Their blood starts running hot, and you better look out.
Even if users don't react violently to technostress, they most likely express their anger in some way or another -- never using the product again, turning to some other activity, doing what they know. Software should just work, and it should be easy, says David Platt. But that is difficult if the software is sophisticated. At least the help should be apparent, relevant, immediately accessible. Can you imagine this guy hitting F1 and trying to troubleshoot?
What is your patience threshold for technical problems? How long before you get really upset inside and give up? Two minutes, twenty minutes, two hours, two days, two weeks?
