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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

~TABLE 17--COPYING FILES TO HARD DRIVEEnd TimeH: M: S Activity2:35:10what should hard drive be named?--2:44:502:45:502:51:452:52:502:54:452:58:402:59:203:OO:OO24:50copy files to hard drive from floppy disk-ansi.sys. whatdoes backup do? chkdsk, diskcomp, diskcopy, edlin. Paul:I don't like this backspace, wonder what esc.com is. what isfind? format copied. what is freq? can't find explanationfor freq-skip it. graftabl, graphics, join. what is all the keystuff? only keyb is documented. what is setup? checkingdocumentation. what's share, subst, try tree, what's vdisk,wtdatim? make dir for the files copiedmake directory \util for other files.fix prompt-didn't install prompt command, documentationdoesn't lead one through it very well. make an autoexecfile-edlin doesn't work, copy autoexec from disk in a:,rename and try to edlin again. once again bad command orfile name. lost in directory, realize that directory doesn'thave edIin. change directory with edlin. edlin autoexec filecheck if prompt works. turn off machine, then turn onmachine. it works! (no date & time request)create basic directory and copy basic files.copy remaining utility files to \util (assign, attrib, fdisk, find,join, key", label, more, remove restore, select, setup, share,sort, subst, tree, wtdatim).copy A:gwbasic to hard driveWe now have a system!Total
RECOMMENDATIONSIt is clear from the previous section that participants had numerous problems withsetting up the PC-8. The evidence takes the form of both comments from typical users andan etmpiric analysis of setup task times. These problems have arisen because the originalpro&uct concept dicl not call for customer setup. When human factors/ergonornicconsiderations are not given priority early in design, it is unlikely the resulting product willbe easy to use (or in this case, easy to set up).It may seem to some that the setup problems reported here can be eliminated byimproving the documentation. While that will certainly help, the ultimate solution mustincluide modification of the packaging, hardware, and software as well. Specifically, keysuggested changes include:@making the hardware self-documenting,consolidating most of the setup information into one manual,eliminating mixed language documentation,making much greater use of illustrations,adding "open me first," "this side up," and unpacking instructions, and a list of 'contents on the outside of each shipping box,reshaping t,he foam in the cabinet shipping box to facilitate unpacking it, and0 providing batch files to handle most of the system configuration.All of these suggestions are expanded upon in the section that follows.1. As a general principle, hardware should be self-documenting. To achieve this,every part should be labeled with a name, and if possible a number. The name should beengra.ved in the mold for plastic and cast metal parts, and printed on circuit boards. Thename should face the customer when the part is removed from its package and be visiblewhen it is installed. So, for example, with circuit boards, the name should be on the top ofthe card and also, so one can identify it without opening the cabinet, on the outside of thefoot. Because NCR's market is multilingual, it will be a challenge to make the labelslegible given the limited space available.With the present design of the PC-8, the only source of information about setting itup is the written documentation, Ideally, it should be obvious from the hardware how toset it up and the documentation should be a secondary source. Furthermore, the currentsetup procedure assu:mes that people go through the documentation step-by-step, never
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 and 16: TABLE 2 (continued)Activityfound in
Page 17 and 18: TABLE 3UNPACKING AND INSTALLING KEY
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: TABLE 16SETTING COMPUTER TO BOOT FR
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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?