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

tmkrical R W Docurmtotior, Page1. R-rf No. 2. Gov-mf Accession No. 3. Recipimf's Cofolog No.1UMTRI-86-254. Title ad SubtitleCUSTOMEli SETUP OF THlE NCR PC-8 PERSONALCOMPUTER: A CASE STIJDY7. kr~u'.)Paul Green9. Pnlorning Orgcnirmtion Nme md 14ddrersUniversity of MichiganTransportation Reseai~ch InstituteAnn Arbor, Michigan 48109-2150 U.S.A.I5. Rapore DoteMay 19866. Puforning Organi toiion to&369184, 8. Pnhing Orqmirotion Report NO.UMTRI -86-2510. Wok Unit No. (TRAIS)11. Contract or Grant NO.DRDA 86-2099-P113- Type of R.porr ond Period Covered1 12. Sponsoring A pcy Nme rrd Addross 1 II Product Marketing 1 INCR Corporation, Personal Computer Division14. Sponsoring Agency CodeDayton, Ohio 45479 U.S.A.NCR PO 61-14922ITwo University OIE Michigan engineers were videotaped and timed as theyco1labor;zted in setting up an NCR PC-8, a personal computer, based on theIntel 80286 processor, Their dialog, a result of the subjects-in-tandemmethod u!;ed here, identified weaknesses in the current setup procedure.In the first of two sessions, participants unpacked the system unit,then unpacked and installed the keyboard, graphics card, RAM expansion, coprocesso~:,and display. After an hour and a half, they gave up when theywere unable to install the 360K floppy drive.1 After NCR field engineers spent a day and a half completinginstallation of the floppy, running the diagnostics, and running the fdiskprogram, the participants returned. Participants spent another hour and ahalf unpacking the til,t and swivel mechanism, installing the feet, checkingthe key lock, running the demonstration program, duplicating a DOS disk,setting up the hard disk, and copying files to it.Problems were not:ed in five areas--(l) packaging (unlabeled boxes, nounpacking instructiorls on boxes, loose parts in easily missed sidecompattmh!nts, no easy way to grasp and remove the cabinet); (2) hardware(no namaas on parts, no embedded assembly instructions); (3) documentation(not wel.1 integrated, confusing use of multiple languages, lack ofillustrat,ions, vague text--especially for the disk drive); (4) software(missed opportunities to use batch files); and (5) tools (IC puller andinserter not provided). Many changes are suggested to solve theseproblems. Once these changes are made, the setup of modified PC-8 shouldbe timed.17. K q WordsHuman factors, ergonomics,personal computers, clocumentation,time studyIaD. kcurity Classif. (of this pogo) 21. No. of Poges 22. PriceI Unclassified I Unclassified 1 40 I I