101 UX Principles

Chapter #83. Your Users Probably Don't Understand the File System

The file system of your computer is the complex tree of many, many thousands of folders and files that make up the operating system—all your apps and their resources, and all your documents, images, and music files. Your users likely don't understand this—nor should they have to.

I've witnessed multiple people, in user tests, who use Microsoft Word as the primary way to find and retrieve information from their computer or network. They'll open Word and use the "open" command as a way to browse around their documents. If they come across an image, they'll open it into a Word document. If they want to send the image, they'll email a Word document with the image in. This probably sounds ...