Although our computers have significantly improved over the past 15 years, they still malfunction 11 to 20 percent of the time, according to a recent study by the University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University. The researchers suggest that there's substantial room for enhancement in system designs
and Roskilde University. The researchers suggest that there’s substantial room for enhancement in system designs by involving users more intimately in the development process.
“It’s incredible that the figure is so high. However, most people experience frustration when using computers and can tell a horror story about an important PowerPoint presentation that was not saved or a system that crashed at a critical moment. Everyone knows that it is difficult to create IT systems that match people’s needs, but the figure should be much lower, and one thing that it shows is that ordinary people aren’t involved enough when the systems are developed,” he says.
In one hour, the researchers told them to report the situations in which the computer would not work properly, or where the participants were frustrated about not being able to perform the task they wanted. The participants in the survey also responded that 84 percent of the episodes had occurred before and that 87 percent of the episodes could happen again. And, according to Kasper Hornbæk, we are having the same fundamental problems today that we had 15-20 years ago.
“There is a lot of productivity lost in workplaces throughout Denmark because people are unable to perform their ordinary work because the computer is not running as it should. It also causes a lot of frustrations for the individual user,” says Kasper Hornbæk.