This was a few years back.
I got called over to B's space to help him figure out how to make an "é" (that's an e with an accent in case this doesn't translate). So we switched to Word so he wouldn't screw up what he was working on in InDesign (layout software). We did that. Then he started in on the special characters menu.
"Ok, B, you need to go into InDesign."
I don't even know what he started doing.
"...you need to go into InDesign."
"Uhhhh."
"...In. Design..."
He goes to the Finder.
"...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign..."
He goes into Word.
"...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign..."
He goes into Photoshop.
"...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign..."
"I went into InDesign".
"No, Bruce, I've been watching. You went into Photoshop. You need to go into InDesign."
He goes into Word again.
"...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign...you need to go into InDesign..."
The woman who he's been working with starts laughing.
He finally makes it into InDesign.
"Ok. Now you need to go into the "Type" menu."
He starts studying the "Edit" menu intently. I finally start getting annoyed.
"B! The type menu! Right there!"
I'm sure I'm the asshole here.
4 comments:
I think this goes back to the flowchart you posted last Friday.
Its not your fault that he didn't understand
You are just too smrat
How does repeating the same thing over and over and over and over help? Perhaps your assessment is accurate.
InDesign is the main program we use. It gets used every single day for most of the day. I tried to think of other ways to explain it. There wasn't one. There is no way to break that instruction down to smaller, simpler bits. It's already at the Higgs Bosun level of instruction.
It'd probably help if I told more Bruce stories. Everyone in the office has some. The boss refuses to fire him, but did alter his contract so it doesn't include layout anymore. You can't fire someone for not doing their job if it's not part of their job.
Post a Comment