<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">I agree 100% with Michael here. Far too much time is spent hand-holding very inexperienced users, and it is incredibly frustrating. About half of the people who ask me for help turn out to have a simple typo in the username / password. Half the remaining have a more complicated typo.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Perhaps when the v3 product has matured some, we can look at how to look after more novice users, but for the moment I think we should keep the material targeted to experienced users. I.T. literate.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Regards, Mark.<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 4 Jan 2019, at 10:13 PM, Michael Balzer <<a href="mailto:dexter@expeedo.de" class="">dexter@expeedo.de</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class="">
  
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    Rob,<br class="">
    <br class="">
    maybe I'm too pessimistic (realistic?), but if you're targeting
    users within that category, your spec lacks "doesn't like reading
    manuals or searching the web for answers" and "likes watching short
    videos", so working on the manual with these users in mind is
    futile.<br class="">
    <br class="">
    My last App support: the App told the user it can't connect to the
    server, he should verify the server address and vehicle ID. I sent
    him the data he should use. He insisted in having entered exactly
    that. After four or five mails I finally got him to send me this
    "screenshot":<br class="">
    <br class="">
    <span id="cid:part1.73DC47D8.6F2298BC@expeedo.de"><glkolgejahicndjc.jpeg></span><br class="">
    <br class="">
    <br class="">
    Many current users (even v2 users) I have supported fit into that
    category, none of them would (could) read anything longer than a few
    sentences. The manual introduction section is already too much for
    them, they normally just jump into using the system and they
    normally fail at things like entering a server name or password
    correctly.<br class="">
    <br class="">
    Of course we should generally try to further simplify the UIs, e.g.
    provide a select option for the standard servers and an account
    registration API.<br class="">
    <br class="">
    But the manual IMO is meant for the capable / advanced user trying
    to get specific jobs done with the system.<br class="">
    <br class="">
    For the "low end" user target, a single (!) page "first setup" sheet
    is needed, and a series of 3 minute feature introduction videos on
    Youtube.<br class="">
    <br class="">
    Regards,<br class="">
    Michael<br class="">
    <br class="">
    <br class="">
    <div class="moz-cite-prefix">Am 03.01.19 um 16:05 schrieb Robert
      Sharpe (Electric Vehicle Consultant):<br class="">
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:168143ec8a3.ad60801d178250.298651852234293416@evergreen-consulting.co.uk" class="">
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      <div style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#00000;" class="">
        <div class="">Hi Mark/All,<br class="">
        </div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">Sometime ago I did lots of obvious updates of the User
          Manual to help readability, etc as a first stab.<br class="">
        </div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">Now doing a second stab, there is one thing that has come
          to light and that is the definition of a user.<br class="">
        </div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">In order to check the documentation I need to know what the
          user is capable of off.  I appreciate that the definition of
          user has probably changed over the development of the project
          and the product has matured enough that it can be operated by
          non-technical users opening up its usefulness.  <br class="">
        </div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">Assuming that what were the original users would how fall
          into the category of Developers, does the following draft
          specification accurately reflect the minimum capabilities of a
          current/future User?<br class="">
        </div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">User Definition</div>
        <ul class="">
          <li class="">a general household DIY capable person.<br class="">
          </li>
          <li class="">can mount and plug things into the vehicle<br class="">
          </li>
          <li class="">cant<br class="">
          </li>
          <ul class="">
            <li class="">create connectors/leads<br class="">
            </li>
            <li class="">modify the OVMS hardware<br class="">
            </li>
            <li class="">don't know about internal or technical terms, such as
              Nissan Leaf GIDs, WiFi SSID, etc</li>
          </ul>
        </ul>
        <div class="">User Expectations<br class="">
        </div>
        <ul class="">
          <li class="">the unit fully supports the listed features under all
            reasonable conditions<br class="">
          </li>
          <li class="">reliable in operation</li>
          <li class="">error messages are non-technical and help the user solve
            the problem</li>
          <li class="">should be plug-n-play where possible, eg<br class="">
          </li>
          <ul class="">
            <li class="">automatically detects vehicle type and year<br class="">
            </li>
            <li class="">automatically detects battery capacity, etc<br class="">
            </li>
          </ul>
        </ul>
        <div class="">Please let me know if this is accurate or what
          changes/clarifications need to be made.<br class="">
        </div>
        <div class=""><br class="">
        </div>
        <div class="">Rob</div>
        <div class="zmail_extra">
          <div id="Zm-_Id_-Sgn1" class="">
            <div class=""><br class="">
            </div>
            <div class=""><br class="">
            </div>
            <div class="">--- On Tue, 07 Aug 2018 03:30:33 +0100 <b class="">Mark
                Webb-Johnson <<a target="_blank" href="mailto:mark@webb-johnson.net" moz-do-not-send="true" class="">mark@webb-johnson.net</a>></b>
              wrote ----<br class="">
            </div>
          </div>
          <div class=""><br class="">
          </div>
          <blockquote style="border-left: 1px solid #cccccc;
            padding-left: 6px; margin:0 0 0 5px" class="">
            <div class="" style="">
              <div class="">Robert,<br class="">
              </div>
              <div class=""><br class="">
              </div>
              <div class="">Thanks for the offer to help out.<br class="">
              </div>
              <div class=""><br class="">
              </div>
              <div class="">Perhaps you can look at it from the user’s
                point of view, and try to improve our documentation and
                approach for that?<br class="">
              </div>
              <div class=""><br class="">
              </div>
              <div class="">
                <div class="">Regards, Mark.<br class="">
                </div>
                <div class="">
                  <div class=""><br class="">
                  </div>
                  <blockquote class="">
                    <div class="">On 3 Aug 2018, at 4:01 PM, Robert
                      Sharpe (Electric Vehicle Consultant) <<a target="_blank" class="" href="mailto:robert.sharpe@evergreen-consulting.co.uk" moz-do-not-send="true">robert.sharpe@evergreen-consulting.co.uk</a>>
                      wrote:<br class="">
                    </div>
                    <div class=""><br class="">
                    </div>
                    <div class="">
                      <div class="">
                        <div class="" style="font-size: 10pt;
                          font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica,
                          sans-serif">
                          <div class="">Hi All,<br class="">
                          </div>
                          <div class=""><br class="">
                          </div>
                          <div class="">I like where OVMS project is
                            going and would like to help if I can.<br class="">
                          </div>
                          <div class=""><br class="">
                          </div>
                          <div class="">Where I can possibly add value
                            is<br class="">
                          </div>
                          <ul class="">
                            <li class="">make things easy for people to
                              use (eg documentation, etc)<br class="">
                            </li>
                            <li class="">experienced on UI/UX design,
                              etc.<br class="">
                            </li>
                            <li class="">as an ex developer, good at
                              testing and finding problems.<br class="">
                            </li>
                          </ul>
                          <div class="">Some initial thoughts on
                            activities are<br class="">
                          </div>
                          <ul class="">
                            <li class="">to make it easier for non
                              technical people to use OVMS, help doc
                              author pull out user only specific content
                              to a user manual and make it non-technical
                              (renaming current user manual to
                              developers manual) <br class="">
                            </li>
                            <li class="">to help people see roadmap,
                              provide a mechanism to see who wants what
                              and who is working on it.<br class="">
                            </li>
                            <li class="">to allow developers and users
                              to display problems with their vehicle
                              only, add Labels to the github issues list
                              or group by project (I am not an expert on
                              GITHUB so please be patient)<br class="">
                            </li>
                            <li class="">update GITHUB readmes to better
                              direct people that find GITHUB first.<br class="">
                            </li>
                          </ul>
                          <div class="">Please<br class="">
                          </div>
                          <ul class="">
                            <li class="">let me know if anyone is
                              dealing with any of these areas<br class="">
                            </li>
                            <li class="">add and/or vote for what things
                              you think I can help with by putting a
                              comment next to the activity above.<br class="">
                            </li>
                          </ul>
                          <div class="" id="">
                            <div class="" style="font-family: Verdana,
                              Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
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                                      Verdana, Arial, sans-serif"><span class="size" style="font-size:16px">Regards,<br class="">
                                        Robert Sharpe<br class="">
                                        Electric Vehicle Consultant<br class="">
                                        07711 252971</span></span></span></p><p class="" style=""><span class="size" style="font-size:13.6364px"><a target="_blank" class="" href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/arsharpe" moz-do-not-send="true"><span class=""><1.gif></span></a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="http://www.twitter.com/EgcTechnical" moz-do-not-send="true"><span class=""><2.gif></span></a> <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/EvergreenConsultingLtd" moz-do-not-send="true"><span class=""><3.gif></span></a> <a class="" target="_blank" href="http://www.evergreen-consulting.co.uk/staff/skype/rsharpe.html" moz-do-not-send="true"><span class=""><4.gif></span></a> <a class="" target="_blank" href="http://www.evergreen-consulting.co.uk/staff/calendars/rsharpe.html?utm_campaign=General&utm_source=EmailFooter&utm_medium=Email" moz-do-not-send="true"><span class=""><5.gif></span></a></span><br class="">
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    </blockquote>
    <br class="">
    <pre class="moz-signature" cols="160">-- 
Michael Balzer * Helkenberger Weg 9 * D-58256 Ennepetal
Fon 02333 / 833 5735 * Handy 0176 / 206 989 26
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