Even though our computers are now better than 15 years ago, they still malfunction 11%–20% of the time, a new study from the University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University concludes. The researchers behind the study therefore find that there are major gains to be achieved for society by rethinking the systems and involving users more in their development.

Even though our computers are now better than 15 years ago, they still malfunction 11%–20% of the time, a new study from the University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University concludes. The researchers behind the study therefore …

  • rowdy@lemmy.worldEnglish
    201·
    1 year ago

    Interesting but a seemingly flawed study.

    ~250 participants is not a lot. We have no information of the hardware they were using.

    Some participants were “IT professionals” yet no other qualifying credentials are given. Others are “highly proficient with computers”. How did they qualify that?

    Participants were told to report any issue they encountered - no specification on what qualifies. If you are participating in a study to report anything that frustrates you with a computer (which is already subjective) then of course you’re going to report at an increased rate versus what should actually qualify. PDF file take a few minutes to render? Was it because the computer had an issue? Or because the PDF was 800 pages of high quality pictures? Frustration does not equate to an issue.

    That being said, I work in IT and absolutely there are industry wide issues that need fixing. Most of it is not the fault of the computer systems - but of the client/user. So many of my clients are using archaic software (server OS, SQL front ends, list goes on). A refusal to address these issues is not the fault of the computer. Computer systems can only be as successful as you set them up to be. Don’t blame a machine for what is fundamentally a human problem.