Wes points to this analysis of Firefox by Adam Kalsey, which I think is brilliant. I am an Internet power user, and I still see no compelling reason to use Firefox, though I heartily use its kissing cousin, Camino.
In the software requirements field there’s a problem called transference — transferring your understanding and world view onto that of the users. When you are dealing with understanding the requirements of a user, need to be very careful not to make assumptions about them. The easiest and most common assumption is that the user is in some ways similar to you or to other people you know. That’s because it’s a lot easier to identify with people with whom you have something in common. That transference of knowledge is what many of the commenters below are doing. Because of their advanced level of knowledge and the level of their friends and colleagues it is difficult for them understand and believe that there is such an enormous gap between them and the average user.
It’s not that these users are stupid. They just don’t realize that they have an alternative to Internet Explorer. Many don’t know that they have an alternative when it comes to connecting to the Internet. That blue E is the thing that they’ve always used. In order to switch they’re going to need to have a compelling reason. They’re going to need to be told not that they need a new browser or they should stop using IE, but that the way they currently use the internet is unsafe and that Firefox will solve that for them.
But before that happens, Firefox needs to be bulletproof enough that my 64 year old father in law can install it and manage it himself. He managed to install Weatherbug, Hotshots, Hotbar, and a host of other adware, so understanding how to install software isn’t the problem. The problem is that Firefox as it currently exists and is marketed isn’t as compelling as those applications. Each of the aforementioned tools provides some very real perceived benefit to the average consumer.
I convinced my wife to try Firefox after hearing her complain for the umpteetnth time about pop-up ads in IE. So I took care of the download, installation, importation of her IE favorites, and put a Firefox shortcut on her XP desktop.
The first mistake I made was not taking the IE shortcut off the desktop. She continues to use IE nearly as often as Firefox. My second “mistake” was installing Service Pack 2 for XP. Actually, that wasn’t the second mistake; the second mistake was telling my wife that SP2 enabled pop-up blocking in IE. In its current form, I’m not holding out much hope for Firefox’s continued use on our Windows box, because the biggest perceived value of Firefox to my spouse has been overcome by Microsoft.
Adware and spyware continues to be a concern, but we have tools installed to kill those. The problem I’m having with convincing my wife to continue to use Firefox is that it helps to prevent their installation in the first place. I need to begin by taking that IE icon off the desktop.
posted on November 6, 2004 11:58 PM