08.11.06
My job as a dentist
Recently I visited a dentist for a root-canal treatment. I have always hated visiting a dentist all my life. In fact, I gave advice to a colleague for her kids, (1) Bring the kids to friendly dentists so that they will not be afraid of dentists and (2) Make sure their teeth are in proper arrangement so that it will not suffer from dental problems in the future.
Recalling my work as an IT professional, I realized I am sometimes being perceived as a dentist. People, over the years in dealing with misappropriate IT professionals, have become afraid of dealing with IT people. And like visiting a dentist, once you are on a dentist chair, there is nothing you can do to complain (at least not through your mouth). Does it not sound like the inept helpdesk that we keep encouraging our user to call? In a long session like a root-canal treatment, you do not even know what happen if the dentist keeps on working on your teeth. Drawing on the analogy, it would seem that it is important for your users to find an avenue to raise their discomfort (like raising hands in a dental session) and it is important to provide constant feedback on what is happening in the session.Â
As for the earlier pair of advice, there is nothing much I can do about exposing first time users to the right IT. And for the latter advice, the closest analogy would be to fix the information problem and make sure the information is well-organized. In this way, even when system upgrades, the migration would be simpler.
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