Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Friday, June 20, 2008

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Problems escalated from helpdesk

I don't want to be awkward or unreasonable, but if a problem is being escalated from a help desk there is a certain amount of information that I would expect to have been gathered. I'm not just being picky. It saves time in the long run and means that the customer/user gets a better experience.

Information about the caller/customer/user:
  • Their name
  • The company they work for (possibly)
  • How to contact them (phone no, email, etc.)

About the issue:
  • Which program?
  • Which version?
  • What is happening?
  • How can it be recreated?
  • What were they expecting?
  • What steps need to be taken to recreate the issue?
  • What has been tried already to address the issue?
  • What has changed?
  • When did the issue start?
  • Does it occur on one, some or all machines?
  • Is it a consistent or occasional issue?
  • What impact does the issue have on the user(s)?
And probably more besides...

Splash screens

Don't have a timer on a splash screen!
They should only be used to indicate something is happeneing in the background and the application has actually started. Displaying for any longer than is absolutely necessary is a waste of the users time and shows that you think it is more important for the user to have to stare at a logo than actually use a program to do some work.
It may only be a few seconds, but it adds up.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Tuesday, June 03, 2008