Users don’t know the terminology to describe the problem they have or to know what to look for.
Users haven’t studied the problem long enough.
Users don’t recognize details or signs which might aid in understanding the problem.
Users might not have easy access to the documentation, may not be qualified to understand it (because of language barriers or technical level), or they may simply not have the time or energy to use it.
Users might be unaware of the status of their computer/account/browser and/or they might be limited in their ability to obtain this information.
Users might have received incorrect or misleading information from someone else, or they might have made incorrect assumptions about the product.
Users may be familiar with one kind of product and lack the appropriate mental model for knowing how the product is supposed to work.
Users might have previous problems in the past and found it easier just to call technical support than to risk aggravating the problem when trying to fix it.
Vicki Davis on 03 Jul 13There are many who don't understand this one point. I used to have someone who required me to have beautiful lesson plans. They were detailed. I spent more than an hour a day on them. So much time so that sometimes I felt unprepared when the kids actually walked in the door. When those detailed plans were removed and I was allowed to focus on the content created for the students to use and then keep a grid (I keep links, etc. to what I'm doing) - THAT Was when real innovation happened in my classroom. Things like wikis, blogs, etc. happened after those super-restrictive requirements were taken off my shoulders. I had the wrong audience when I had those detailed lesson plans - my audience was the principal at the time. Now, I still have plans but I keep it in a grid in a book and then keep copies of what I use with students in dropbox and other places. I do far more now than then because my focus is the students. Lesson plans aren't bad. However, if you spend your time making the LESSON PLAN itself pretty and perfect then likely you're not spending your actual time PLANNING, printing, collecting, and creating what you'll be doing with your students. Also, when you do things like #geniushour and 20% time projects, you no longer have a lesson plan but a project plan which is an entirely different thing altogether. Don't fault teachers for this. Teaching is the hardest job everybody thinks they can do and few really can.
