Updated at least twice a month; This is a blog on usability in India -of software, web, and, consumer products of India. I will also be blogging my observations on how usability affects marketing, product positioning, corporate branding, customer-service and sales. Write to me: sumank ['at'] gmail [dot] com World Usability Day 2006
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Tuesday, December 20, 2005

 

Using a Projector

I attended the STC India Annual Conference in Hyderabad last week. Just about every speaker had to spend waste precious time configuring his or her laptop to the projector. Why does it have to be so difficult I wonder. Take, for example, this excerpt from these instructions for connecting a laptop to the projector:
To tell the laptop that you want to see the image on the projector, you just have to push the right buttons. Which buttons are the right ones for you depends on your laptop. [source: Projector Central]
Why can't all laptops follow a standard keyboard command? I don't want to refer to the laptop documentation when I am seconds away from starting my presentation. Well, that is just one of the issues. I am sure there are more. Like, setting the size of the image, setting the resolution of the laptop display, choosing the projector-mode for video, setting the audio... If you are a projector manufacturer ask yourself this question every time you send a product to the market: will a lay person, who knows only how to operate the basic functions of a laptop, be able to setup my projector without assistance and within reasonable time? Think about it. PCs and ancillary products are no more 'technology' products. They are almost consumer-durables now. What say?
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