Think About What You Want to Do 🤔 & Then Look Aroundfor a Way to Do It 👀

During technology workshops, there’s usually at least one person who is scribbling furiously instead of focusing on understanding how a particular app works (which would be much more beneficial to them).

Preparation Recap

• after you have familiarity with the computer from “noodling around” with it…
• after you have familiarity w/ the applications(s) you need to use…
• after you have an objective firmly in mind 🙌 or better yet written down or sketched out 🖍
• you can then brew a nice cup of tea and sit down in front of your computer in full getting stuff done mode.

Step-by-step instructions are often unnecessary

Regardless of which application you are using to complete a particular task or project, the “step-by-step instructions” for anything you wish to do will be right in front of you (as long as you are using a suitable app) in the form of visual cues, which include buttons, icons & menus.

Check out the functionality-revealing icons and text on this abstract app interface as well as the “Settings” wheel at the upper right corner.

Relevant Definitions

Methodical meaning
(of a person) orderly or systematic in thought or behavior. she was so methodical, she kept everything documented”

vis·u·al meaning
adjective:
relating to seeing or sight.”visual perception”
noun:
a picture, piece of film, or display used to illustrate or accompany something.
the music should fit the visuals”

Real world correlation

What do you do when you are driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood?

You would not (one would assume) push the accelerator to the floorboard and make random turns. The odds of you arriving safely at your destination would be astronomical at best.

You would instead proceed at a measured pace while looking for visual cues (e.g. street signs) en route to your destination.

Sightseeing is the real world parallel to noodling around a computer.

Whenever you are confronted with an unfamiliar interface (or an unfamiliar anything for that matter):

• Sip your tea ☕️
• Breathe.
• Look around; take in what you see…
• Refer to your objective, your current task at hand.
• Before you click or tap anything, mentally break the graphical user interface down, piece-by-piece, section-by-section…
• Look for what you can use to accomplish your current task at hand (i.e. functionality).
• Look for visual cues (e.g. back and forward navigation buttons).
• Work methodically toward your objective (just as you would safely cross a pedestrian intersection).