Software is a tool (on)

Software Definition

Software refers to computer commands or data that can be stored electronically (from webopedia's definition of software). This is a definition provided by computer scientists based on the nature of software, when computer scientists are dressed in the White Paper and waiting for the age of big guys in the lab, they do. They are talking about instructions, bytes, encoding, but now, we will never look at software like this again. In our discussion, they are:

Word: "You can send me that document ."
QQ and MSN: "Leave a QQ/MSN or something and try again ."
Skype: "Mom has to call me through the Internet, but it's quite helpful ";
Legend: "I am from the White Tower in Zone 55 ......"
Google: "You will know when you go to Google ";
......

For software that is commonly used, users do not care about commands and data at all (if you don't believe it, you can ask someone on the internet). With the development of software, we gradually go deep into our work and life, what we care about is software. What can it do for us? Can I help myself complete my tasks? Can I communicate with friends online? Can you get new knowledge? Can it provide entertainment experience?

At the beginning of chapter 1 of Larry Constantine's book "software for use", the author points out: "All software systems are tools" (P5); In "about face2.0, it is also mentioned that "this ideal interaction is not a dialog-it's more like using a tool" (chapter 2 ). Yes, all software systems are tools, and the ideal interaction is not a dialogue. More like using tools, software is not a profound concept, just a tool, this is the definition given by a wide range of software users. Users do not care about what commands and data it is, how it is built, or even the software itself. If a software has a magical power, as long as you read a word or enter a strange string of code, you can write an article and arrange the version according to the ideal format, it will be much more successful than word.

("Ha Kuma collapsed ~", The document is complete. How nice is this interaction .)

For tools, it is used to expand people's abilities and help people complete their tasks. People cannot use dingtalk, but they can use hammers as tools. People cannot inject anesthesia by hand, however, syringes can be used as tools (milestone scientific used software on the syringe, their wand anesthesia injection systems are controlled using software and provide precise anesthesia, therefore, the injection can achieve almost painless results, avoiding uneven manual operations, which is really a very good software/tool .). Since it is a tool, software should also have a tool attitude, they should be quiet, should be done, should really help.

Websites are also tools, such as Google:

As long as users are concerned about what they want to search and can express it at will, Google will list the results they have searched, and the results they have found are quite valuable. In this process, it receives input, search, and display. There are no unnecessary conversations and actions, and users do not need to know the details of the search. Therefore, Google has become our favorite search tool, in addition, it affects the generation of search engines with its own behaviors (at least in China, Baidu and Baidu have all become very similar to Google ).

There are also some software that, as a whole, can be used as a tool to complete the main tasks, but in terms of interaction with them, there are still some places not like tools, like the owner of the command.

Let's take a look at the example below. An e-commerce website experiences a seemingly friendly dialog box when users are eager to buy a book (not yet friendly "), in addition to clicking "OK", the entire shopping process has been interrupted:

Figure 1. The website dialog box shows that the visitor has not logged on, regardless of his or her purchase request.

Some other websites have been improved. No dialog box is displayed, but the webpage is directly directed to the login page. In this process, the selected items have disappeared from the page.

This is not a friendly tool. It seems to say, "Don't worry about your book. I need to know who you are !" This is what the system is asking the user for, but does the user come here for his book?

The software is no longer far away from the mystery, and it returns to its original position as a tool. This is an inevitable phenomenon because the user's requirements for the software will become higher and higher. If it is not easy to use, he will keep his mind in mind (there is a chance to change another one), and the software industry is changing. For example, we have seldom seen the prompt box "printer paper shortage" in the center of the screen, it is a prompt box that appears automatically and disappears automatically with A status icon. Many software started to have the ability to remember what we have previously entered; gmail also automatically adds the contact email address to the contact (Foxmail has not done so yet ).