11.19.2002 - 4:19 p.m.

So another round of individual student meetings to troubleshoot growing (and in some cases, mutating) websites. It�s interesting to see the way people think in front of a computer.

There is the guy who sees with the mouse pointer. I think he gets nervous, or something, because he is actually one of the more adept ones at a lot of things; he tracks straight for whatever he is supposed to be clicking, and only rarely looks at me for confirmation. But if it is something new that I am walking him through, I have to speak ve-ry slow-ly, while his mouse hand jiggles back and forth without finding anything. And I can�t say more than one thing at once, but I have to use great detail.

It�s frustrating. I should have remembered he was coming today, and slept more.

Then there is the girl who always thinks she�s broken something. She will tell the computer to do something, and if it takes the slightest time to think about it, she�ll sort of throw up her hands and go, �Oh, no, what did I do wrong?�

Too, it is interesting to see the different ways people do things. Who uses shortcuts, who uses the other mouse button, who uses the menu bars. Who uses weird combinations. If you are going to Ctrl+C to copy, why do you right click to paste?

I dunno. Maybe in my next life I will try one of those social sciences.

-stonebridge

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