Customer Setup of the NCR PC-8. - THE CORE MEMORY

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participants managed to slide out the cabinet. In the process, the cabinet dropped a fewinches on to the desk,,The next tasik, associated with unpacking and installing the keyboard, took justover seven minutes, of which two minutes were spent checking the non-keyboard-specificdocu~nentation. Still,, this is far longer than such a simple operation should take. (SeeTable 3.) Most of the time was spent trying to solve problems (e.g., what the keytips are,which step to do next, which position the switch was in, aligning the keyboard plug, etc.)and not in productive assembly. Labeling the parts and integrating the keyboard kitinstructions into the "'getting started" manual would sharply reduce this time.The next task was to unpack the display, a task that took almost four minutes. Thesubsequent step, attaching the cables to the video display, took just under two minutes.Time data from both steps are shown in Table 4.Removing the clisplay from its box was quite easy because there was ample room toreach it. It is possible to miss the power cord, because it is packed between the foam andthe side of the box. Placing the cord beneath the top flap might be a better choice. Toreduce opportunities for error, it would have been wise to label the cable guide and thecable ends.Installing the graphics card was much more difficult that it should have been. Thattask cook 18 minutes and 40 seconds, but should have taken only 5 minutes. (See Table5.) As with all phases of setup, there was a problem in determining what to do next. Thisprob1t.m occurred because there were multiple sets of instructions (Getting Started, theInsta1.ling Options chapter in the Owner's Manual, and kit instructions) and was neverclear which documents one should be reading and in what order. The graphic CRTcontroller card was referred to in several ways (graphic controller card, monitor controllercard, graphics display adapter board), which was confusing. Further, multiple languages,the lack of illustrations, and vague text made the documentation difficult to follow. (SeeFigure 1.).Removing the display card from its shipping carton was easy, but determiningwhether it was properly configured was not. The instructions then called for checking ifthe card jumpers were open or closed. This took about three minutes, but should havetaken no more than 30 seconds. A detailed illustration of the jumpers was not provided,and it was not immediately obvious to the participants what the open or closed positionslookecl like.
TABLE 3UNPACKING AND INSTALLING KEYBOARDEd TimeH: M: S Activity8: 00 I Totalread "getting started"get keyboardremove keyboard from box put box aside, read "gettingstarted"get reference chart read "getting started", check if manualis presentfound DOS manual, open & check itput DOS manual asidecheck BASIC manual, open, then put manuals asidekeytip char - what are keytips? comment to check outdisplay adapter, where is it? should be comment aboutinstalling option in boxtrying to decide what's next, decide to install keyboard, havekit documentation, mode switch on keyboard not labeled,how do you slide it? what tool? comment about white mark,back not taken offplug in keyboard wrong-should not take off back, no info onback to orient keyboard plug Gust pins inside)read instruction & plug in keyboard, keyboard readyInstalling the display card required opening the cabinet. The participants struggleda bit trying to remove the plastic back panel, because there was no place to grasp it.Removing the top wsis even more difficult. While an illustration was provided showingwhich screws to remove, it was still difficult to identify the appropriate ones, because thereare so many on the cabinet back. Labeling the cabinet back to indicate which screws toremove would have helped. This would save about two minutes.
Page 1 and 2: CUSTOMER SETUP OFTHE NCR PC-8PERSON
Page 3 and 4: LIS'I" OF TABLESCONTENTS...........
Page 5 and 6: PREFACEThe history of this project
Page 7 and 8: INTRODUCTIONThis experiment is an a
Page 9 and 10: - Test ParticipantsTEST PLANTwo mem
Page 11 and 12: In the second work period (for whic
Page 13 and 14: TABLE 1SESSION 1 SUMMARYTaskDuratio
Page 15: TABLE 2 (continued)Activityfound in
Page 19 and 20: 1TABLE 5INSTALLING GRAPHICS CARDEnd
Page 21 and 22: Graphics ControlierGra fik- Con tro
Page 23 and 24: TABLE 7UNF'ACKING AND INSTALLING TH
Page 25 and 26: TABLE 9ATTEMPTING TO INSTALL FLOPPY
Page 27 and 28: took just over five minutes. This i
Page 29 and 30: TABLE 13CHECKING mY LOCKEnd TimeH:
Page 31 and 32: TABLE 15PREPARING DOS DISKEnd TimeH
Page 33 and 34: TABLE 16SETTING COMPUTER TO BOOT FR
Page 35 and 36: RECOMMENDATIONSIt is clear from the
Page 37 and 38: the "'getting started" manual and t
Page 39 and 40: provide about contents and increase
Page 41 and 42: REFERENCESBoyer, H. "'Do-it-yoursel
Page 43 and 44: Solid NCR PC8Off BPS SupelliarATmCn
Page 45 and 46: APPENDIX BNCR PART NUMBERS OF ITEMS

Customer Setup of the NCR PC-8. - THE CORE MEMORY

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