Installation from Hell
Software installs aren't known for calming user's nerves. Just the opposite; they often cause a lot of anxiety by forcing users to make choices about things they don't understand or should never have to deal with.
I recently ran into this problem on step 1 of installing the upgrade version of Adobe Acrobat. I received the message below after starting the install process. My first thought was "What the #$*@?".
There are 3 things wrong with this message:
- Makes the user think there is an error, when there isn't.
"Previous Version Warning"? Of course there is a previous version. This is an upgrade! My recommendation: "Previous version found. Continuing installation." Now that would make more sense.
- Forces the user to take an action that should be performed by the software.
Why make the user manually uninstall the product and then manually restart the install process? Again the user is being penalized for doing exactly what they were supposed to do.
- Doesn't give the user enough information to make a decision.
This is an upgrade, and I have paid the upgrade price for it. But if I remove the old version and restart the install process, will it fail because it can't find a previous version? There is no way I can know the answer until I actual do it. This is unacceptable.
American Airlines Finally Gets it Right
AA's previous site hid one of its most important features Review Current Reservations below the fold and under a drop-down menu. Not to mention the red text.
American Airline's Redesign
Congrats to AA for getting it right in their redesign. The View Reservations feature is given high priority and appears right after the booking items in the first menu. And look...no more red text!
