24% Internet Users Can Not Find Google

TranceAddict Forums (www.tranceaddict.com/forums)
- Chill Out Room
-- 24% Internet Users Can Not Find Google

Posted by leph555 on Mar-25-2008 17:44:

24% Internet Users Can Not Find Google

24% Can�t Find Google -- Jordan McCollum

This week, usability guru Jakob Nielsen asks: �How difficult is it to perform a search on Google?�

No, really. How hard is it? We know the search box in the upper right hand corner of your screen can get there. We know that Google.com in the address bar can get there. But, sadly, Nielsen�s study indicated that at least 24% of Internet users don�t know that. It hurts me just to type it.

A quarter of Internet users said they wanted to search Google for something, but when placed in front of a computer, couldn�t figure it out. �Instead, they either completely failed to get to any search engine or ended up running their query on a different search engine � usually whatever type-in field happened to be at hand.�

Nielsen breaks this mind-boggling stat down for us:

On the one hand, 76% is a high success rate. On the other hand, getting to Google is a very simple task. It�s not even a true task � that is, it�s not something users want to accomplish for its own sake or something we�d pose as an assignment in user testing. Getting a Google search box is the first step in searching the Web, which is only the first step in doing something real (such as, in one of our test tasks, to find �a strong vacuum cleaner that is easy to use, can pick up pet hair, and costs under $300″.

Also, for this round of research we�re deliberately recruiting above-average users, so the success rate across all Internet users is probably lower than our finding.

Suddenly, The Onion�s article a few months back about �TheGoogle.com� doesn�t look quite so funny:

All you have to do to turn the website on is put the little blinking line thing in the cyberspace window at the top of the screen, type �thegoogle.com,� and press �return��although it will also recognize http.wwwthegoogle.com, google.aol, and �THEGOOGLE� typed into a Word document.�

Maybe there�s a real need for remedial Internet�

Nielsen�s overall point was to remind us all that our average user, and the web audience at large, doesn�t understand the Internet the way we do. Unfortunately, I think the net effect of his findings will be lowered self-esteem among SEMs and a generalized funk to last over the next several days. (Exacerbated, of course, by your alma mater losing in the first round of the NCAAs. Again. Come on, I know I�m not the only one. I know you Drake fans are mad, too.)

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/200...ind-google.html

For people claiming that this test was performed with idiots they describe how the users were chosen here:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/user-skills.html

Plus here is the original test page:

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/desig...ifferences.html

Posted by XaNaX on Mar-25-2008 17:48:

this is sad but then I already knew that the world is filled with idiots

Posted by sweds00 on Mar-25-2008 17:49:

ahem

Posted by silene on Mar-25-2008 18:22:

the explanation lies in the shift in demographic that constitutes 'internet users'. in the days of arpanet, its users were exclusively technologically adept - they had to be for the system was complex. nowadays, everyone owns a computer, but far from everyone is smart enough to know how the hell it works. Case in point: my friend's mom got fed up with his gaming, so she decided to uninstall all the games... by deleting the desktop shortcuts . Otherwise intelligent woman, but completely clueless when it comes to technology.

Posted by david.michael on Mar-25-2008 18:24:

quote:
Originally posted by silene
the explanation lies in the shift in demographic that constitutes 'internet users'. in the days of arpanet, its users were exclusively technologically adept - they had to be for the system was complex. nowadays, everyone owns a computer, but far from everyone is smart enough to know how the hell it works. Case in point: my friend's mom got fed up with his gaming, so she decided to uninstall all the games... by deleting the desktop shortcuts . Otherwise intelligent woman, but completely clueless when it comes to technology.

^

that

Posted by Frenchie on Mar-25-2008 19:51:

This could possibly be the answer to people who ask dumb questions on TA.

Posted by Lira on Mar-25-2008 20:04:

Posted by noikeee on Mar-25-2008 20:07:

quote:
Originally posted by silene
Case in point: my friend's mom got fed up with his gaming, so she decided to uninstall all the games... by deleting the desktop shortcuts . Otherwise intelligent woman, but completely clueless when it comes to technology.

I've found many, many people who do that. Honestly it's a operating system flaw, it should prompt the user with a message saying the shortcut is connected to an installed program, and ask whether the user wants to uninstall the program as well.

Not finding google is just retarded though, it couldn't be any more simple.

Posted by Cloudburst on Mar-25-2008 20:29:

quote:
Originally posted by noikeee
I've found many, many people who do that. Honestly it's a operating system flaw, it should prompt the user with a message saying the shortcut is connected to an installed program, and ask whether the user wants to uninstall the program as well.

Not finding google is just retarded though, it couldn't be any more simple.

XP & Vista precisely that afaik?

Posted by noikeee on Mar-25-2008 20:33:

I just tried and got a message saying that indeed, but only a "delete shortcut" and a "cancel" button. There should be an "uninstall program" button as well, and "delete shortcut" should be "delete only the shortcut". Otherwise it looks too similar to any usual delete box, and the user won't even bother to read it, the extra button gives it a different visual effect.

Posted by Swamper on Mar-25-2008 21:09:

UI issues are a big deal.

I saw this first hand when I was in university and one of our assignments was to take a software program and test ppl on it and make recommendations for improvements. Reading about some of the stuff I wrote about Napster 8 years ago is funny -- looking at the recommendations now is a joke, since its pretty much standard in any P2P client (Bittorrent, DC++/etc.)

lol

Posted by 1dawoman on Mar-25-2008 21:44:

quote:
Originally posted by XaNaX
this is sad but then I already knew that the world is filled with idiots

sooo true....I wanted to show someone at school something on youtube...but they said it wasn't working....when I looked on their screen, I saw that they kept typing 'www.utube.com' wtf is wrong with some people??

Posted by Pokit on Mar-25-2008 22:11:

ctrl+e, type word press enter. CONGRATS you did a google search.

Posted by infinity HiGH on Mar-25-2008 23:00:

quote:
Originally posted by XaNaX
this is sad but then I already knew that the world is filled with idiots

25% isn't exactly filling though

Posted by Haak on Mar-25-2008 23:07:

My mom is one of them I'm sure

Posted by tubularbills on Mar-25-2008 23:31:

lol idiots

Posted by Audious on Mar-26-2008 00:10:

I do tech support for a cell phone company. You'd be surprised how many mouthbreathers don't know that there's a difference between a search engine and the address bar.

Posted by silene on Mar-26-2008 03:01:

quote:
Originally posted by Audious
I do tech support for a cell phone company. You'd be surprised how many mouthbreathers don't know that there's a difference between a search engine and the address bar.

Bahaha!

I do IT tech support around campus. Since my 'clientele' consists of university students the intelligence level is usually above average, but it still surprises me that technical literacy is so far outside the mainstream. I mean, it's 2008 already. I don't expect to see average people recompiling their kernels via their cellphones and writing custom scripts to set their network interfaces to monitor mode, but still... There is a whole industry surrounding ease of use (they call it 'end-user productivity' I think), because people refuse to go that extra mile to become somewhat familiar with what their technology is doing. If they did, so much overhead could be eliminated. The system would become less complicated and cluttered. Case in point: unix. While current distros in an effort to break into the mainstream became filled with ease-of-use features, nothing is hidden from the user. I have the power to fix, break, or redesign virtually every element of the software my computer is running. The limit is imposed by my skill.

I'm not saying everyone should become a unix hacker. I'm just a bit surprised in a kind of way that computers became such an integral part of people's lives while remaining a complete mystery.

[/rant]