7

A question recently was posted, creating the and tags.

Are these good tags for this site?

2
  • 1
    If at all, one of the two should suffice and the other should be made a synonym (if really needed). From the two, I'd prefer the second (non-tech-savy) as it catches the bigger group, but it still feels clumsy (and misses the second "v"). We might cross-check with our sister-site: A more formal word for “tech-savvy”, relating to IT technologists in particular: inexperienced-users? Or maybe better for-dummies? Simpleton? Simple-minded? Easy-going?
    – Izzy Mod
    Feb 23, 2016 at 21:50
  • 1
    I like "inexperienced-users", seems more specific and takes into account that someone might be experienced and thus savvy at, say, video editing, while being inexperienced when it comes to website creation.
    – Wowfunhappy
    Feb 25, 2016 at 16:56

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

I don't think these particular tags would be useful, because it is hard to define what software is for-dummies. One person could say that 90% of all smartphone apps are for-dummies, while another person could say only 10% are.

I could agree with more objective tags like:

  • Software usable by people with colour blindness
  • Software usable by kids who can't read yet
  • etc
4
  • Additionally, what should define "elderly": visual issues (need for big letters) / technical issues (non-tech-savvy) / content decisions (interests) / …? So I'm with you: instead of using tags which might lead to confusion, one should rather point out what exactly is needed by listing it with the requirements explicitly.
    – Izzy Mod
    Feb 24, 2016 at 9:40
  • I agree that "elderly" is problematic, especially as used by the OP in the linked question. And you're right that "non-tech-savvy" is subjective. But it's also clearly communicative and fairly specific, if long and slangy. Perhaps a bigger question is whether there's enough need for these kinds of tags to justify it.
    – CPerkins
    Feb 24, 2016 at 22:02
  • I think a non-technical-users would almost certainly be useful. It covers people with no background in computer science or programming, which (realistically) is the overwhelming majority of people. So, people who are more comfortable with GUIs than config files, prefer zero-configuration or turnkey solutions, who neither know nor want to know what it means to "compile" something, and who would have a hard time figuring out a permissions issue.
    – Parthian Shot
    Apr 7, 2016 at 19:05
  • For example, if someone's teaching a high-school statistics course and they don't have a programming background themselves, suggesting R probably wouldn't be particularly helpful, GNU Plot or gnumeric are closer to the mark, and Excel would probably be the best thing for them to use because their students are probably already familiar with it.
    – Parthian Shot
    Apr 7, 2016 at 19:08
6

I don't think the tag makes much sense. What is it about the software that makes it apply to the elderly? Tags like the following make more sense:

The is possibly viable, if it only includes apps that are specifically designed for people without technical skills. Otherwise, it is far too subjective. Perhaps a different term would be appropriate; something like , , , or . I'm open to suggestions. Of course there's always as an homage to Microsoft Bob.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .