If you are reading this, you are most likely a person who helps others with technical problems. You probably have advanced knowledge in one or several fields when it comes to software, operating systems and applications. As such you are able to perform tasks that are not commonly known, and it is because of this it is likely that others ask you for help.
This short text will help you do so in a manner that promotes learning.
Who we are helping – and with what
Unless we are offering paid support, we are most likely helping people who we have a social relation to, for instance friends, children, siblings, parents or grandparents.
They may have different electronic devices, like tablets, laptops, desktops, gaming consoles or e-readers running different operating systems like Windows, different Linux variants, Mac OS, Kindle OS, BSD, iOS and Android. This adds a complexity of electronic devices and operating systems never seen before. We need to understand that we may find ourselves outside our field of expertise, and we must at the same time realize that we need to be very patient when guiding people who feel like fish out of water.
Bathing in a sea of problems
There are a plethora of problems one may encounter, such as difficulty connecting to a wireless network. application crashes, freezes, malfunctioning devices, such as a laptop or printer, issues with email clients or web-based email, installation, updates, permissions, security settings, problems with mobile devices’ battery life, display, camera, and other hardware-related issues, app crashes, bugs and device freezing. You get the point: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong", according to Murphy’s Law.
So where can one start? By learning, of course.
Humans generally learn in four ways:
1. Visual learning: Humans can learn using visual aids like videos and images to help understand and remember information.
2. Auditory learning: Humans can retain information through the use of sound, for instance listening to verbal instructions.
3. Kinesthetic learning: This method involves physical activities to learn and retain information, for instance using a computer.
4. Reading and writing: This method involves reading as a means of learning and retaining information, for instance reading manuals or books, or remembering through taking notes.
Different people may have different preferences of learning, making them respond better to one modality. Some people may remember conversations from two years ago word by word. These will likely respond best to auditory learning. Those preferring kinesthetic learning may respond poorly to auditive learning, and may also not remember much of what they have read in books. If they receive clear instructions when they are sitting in front of a computer, it will have a better effect on their learning.
However, it is generally a good idea to use different modalities when teaching others.
The power of encouragement
Let’s face it: Dealing with technological devices can be frustrating: We try to solve our problems. It doesn’t work. We try again, and it still doesn’t work. Then we give up and feel stupid. It is at this point and in this state of mind we call a friend to ask for help. That means you. Besides the obvious technical support, encouragement is also essential: Learning is more likely to happen in a positive and supportive environment. (Just think of that teacher you really disliked and how little you really learned in those lessons. That is how important a positive environment is.)
Encouragement has several other benefits, as it builds confidence and motivation, makes the person feel valued and respected. A positive environment also builds perseverance and make them deal with setbacks without giving up.
Concluding advice
Whenever you are working with humans, good listending and communication skills are very important. Try to get an understanding of the issue and ask clarifying questions.
1. Beware of the XY-problem. Don’t get bogged down in the user’s attempted solution to a problem (Y). First to understand what the root problem (X) is before deciding what the appropriate solution is.
2. Be empathic and aware of the user’s state of mind. Remember a time when you were frustrated with a problem you couldn’t solve. How would you like to be helped? Be that person.
3. Be patient. The person(s) you are helping are most certainly frustrated already. Don’t let their state of mind infect you. Technical problems can be frustrating regardless, but letting your frustration boil over does not create a positive environment for learning.
4. Have a positive attitude. It creates a pleasant setting without any social cost attached to it.
5. Use active encouragement. For instance, ask the user what he has tried already. Compliment all the things they have done right. Don’t look for all the stuff they have done wrong. They already know that, and likely feel stupid. There is no need to kick them when lying down.
6. Use different modalities when teaching. Don’t grab the tablet or keyboard from them. Let they type and follow your verbal instructions. Give the users videos to watch or manuals to read, if the users are able to utilize them on his own. If not, do it together. Make clear, written notes for the users to follow on their own, according to the users’ skillset.
7. Don’t make yourself irreplaceable. The goal must always be to make the users develop to solve their own problems.
8. Keep expanding and updating your own knowledge. It is the basis for all teaching.
Teaching someone to use electronic devices requires effort and can be a challenge. However, by understanding how people learn and providing encouragement, you can help others more effectively and make them able to solve their own problems.
This post from 2006 offers a lot of good advice: viewtopic.php?t=47077
Computer people are fine human beings, but they do a lot of harm in the ways they "help" other people with their computer problems. Now that we're trying to get everyone online, I thought it might be helpful to write down everything I've been taught about helping people use computers.
First you have to tell yourself some things:
• Nobody is born knowing this stuff.
• You've forgotten what it's like to be a beginner.
• If it's not obvious to them, it's not obvious.
• A computer is a means to an end. The person you're helping probably cares mostly about the end. This is reasonable.
• Their knowledge of the computer is grounded in what they can do and see -- "when I do this, it does that". They need to develop a deeper understanding, but this can only happen slowly -- and not through abstract theory but through the real, concrete situations they encounter in their work.
• Beginners face a language problem: they can't ask questions because they don't know what the words mean, they can't know what the words mean until they can successfully use the system, and they can't successfully use the system because they can't ask questions.
• You are the voice of authority. Your words can wound.
• Computers often present their users with textual messages, but the users often don't read them.
• By the time they ask you for help, they've probably tried several things. As a result, their computer might be in a strange state. This is natural.
• They might be afraid that you're going to blame them for the problem.
• The best way to learn is through apprenticeship -- that is, by doing some real task together with someone who has a different set of skills.
• Your primary goal is not to solve their problem. Your primary goal is to help them become one notch more capable of solving their problem on their own. So it's okay if they take notes.
• Most user interfaces are terrible. When people make mistakes it's usually the fault of the interface. You've forgotten how many ways you've learned to adapt to bad interfaces.
• Knowledge lives in communities, not individuals. A computer user who's part of a community of computer users will have an easier time than one who isn't.
Having convinced yourself of these things, you are more likely to follow some important rules:
• Don't take the keyboard. Let them do all the typing, even if it's slower that way, and even if you have to point them to every key they need to type. That's the only way they're going to learn from the interaction.
• Find out what they're really trying to do. Is there another way to go about it?
• Maybe they can't tell you what they've done or what happened. In this case you can ask them what they are trying to do and say, "Show me how you do that".
• Attend to the symbolism of the interaction. Try to squat down so your eyes are just below the level of theirs. When they're looking at the computer, look at the computer. When they're looking at you, look back at them.
• When they do something wrong, don't say "no" or "that's wrong". They'll often respond by doing something else that's wrong. Instead, just tell them what to do and why.
• Try not to ask yes-or-no questions. Nobody wants to look foolish, so their answer is likely to be a guess. "Did you attach to the file server?" will get you less information than "What did you do after you turned the computer on?".
• Explain your thinking. Don't make it mysterious. If something is true, show them how they can see it's true. When you don't know, say "I don't know". When you're guessing, say "let's try ... because ...". Resist the temptation to appear all-knowing. Help them learn to think the problem through.
• Be aware of how abstract your language is. "Get into the editor" is abstract and "press this key" is concrete. Don't say anything unless you intend for them to understand it. Keep adjusting your language downward towards concrete units until they start to get it, then slowly adjust back up towards greater abstraction so long as they're following you. When formulating a take-home lesson ("when it does this and that, you should try such-and-such"), check once again that you're using language of the right degree of abstraction for this user right now.
• Tell them to really read the messages, such as errors, that the computer generates.
• Whenever they start to blame themselves, respond by blaming the computer. Then keep on blaming the computer, no matter how many times it takes, in a calm, authoritative tone of voice. If you need to show off, show off your ability to criticize bad design. When they get nailed by a false assumption about the computer's behavior, tell them their assumption was reasonable. Tell *yourself* that it was reasonable.
• Take a long-term view. Who do users in this community get help from? If you focus on building that person's skills, the skills will diffuse to everyone else.
• Never do something for someone that they are capable of doing for themselves.
• Don't say "it's in the manual". (You knew that.)
