Consider User Friendliness
What Do You See On Screen?
The User Friendly Conditions
The first time a genealogist views a GSP on the screen of their computer there is usually a moment of panic. GSP screen presentations aren't anything like what we are used to - those nice charts in front of us, the families all nicely typed onto Group Sheets, the files of historical and biographical information accumulated over years of research all readily available.
But now everyone says: "Get that stuff on computer!!!" and the first time you look at a program you are in despair. Common phrases are: "How do I enter the data?" "Where is the silly notes area" and on and on. So the programs you are evaluating may intimidate you or seem too complex to use.
Don't Give Up!
Here are some ways you can get on friendly terms with that ideal GSP you have chosen, or use as ways to evaluate the user friendliness of the GSP package.
- What do you see when you open the program? Is it an individual record or a 5 generation pedigree chart? Most windows programs give you the option to choose the view you like best. When evaluating a GSP consider how you "walk" forward and backward through your data. Which is more comfortable for you? DOS programs are menu driven so you will have options in the menus.
- Consider how you get from an individual record to parents and children. If your option is the 5 generation pedigree chart, can you easily get to the individual records and can you use mouse clicks to see the children of the person on the screen.
- Before you enter data browse all the buttons and menus to find out what options there are, what kinds of records are available, if you can select the information that appears on printed reports, and look at the alpha-browse to see what kind of information presents on the screen to aid you in finding the right "John Smith" you want to work on.
- Most genealogy programs now-a-days have a feature called "ditto." Some use a key command to insert the last typed surname or last typed location. Others compile a list of locations as you type them in and then you can call up the list and select the one you want.
- Look at the HELP files. Check to see if the instructions are easy to find and follow. Look around for other types of information that may be included in your help files, such as non-data forms for printing etc.
- Look at the printing options. Can you export or copy to clipboard reports and what reports are supported by these options?
- Go through the process of creating some of the reports on a small database. Check out the import/export of GEDCOMs.
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