Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

When teaching and demonstrating systems, it is better if there are errors.

Teaching how to use a system is better when there are errors.

No, that prior sentence is not a typo. I want errors to appear when I am showing a person how to use a system—anything from software to a toaster oven.

Errors, problems, uh ohs, etc. occur in real life. Users of systems need to know what to do when errors occur. If a user is taught how to use a perfectly performing system, they will flop in real life.

For example, when a system doesn’t connect to the Internet like it should, what do you do? Well, there is a work around—a way to go behind the scenes and force the system to connect to the Internet. They only way to teach that workaround is for the system to fail to connect to the Internet in the middle of class.

Note to System builders: please build ways for teachers to make the system fail so they can demonstrate how to use the system in the real world.