> I pointed out that these
> folks should
> be considered "sales types", hoping to convey that they didn't think like
> engineers and might be motivated differently. Perhaps to some,

To my simple view of the world there are only about 4 things that motivate
people. Money, Food, Power and Sex. These four commodities are traded on a
daily basis. If you have enough of any one, you can get the other 3. I'll
admit maybe I am stuck with an engineering mentality and can't really see
what you are trying to accomplish. I would think that "Sales Types" are
motivated similarly. I'm probably missing the point somewhere.

> When asked if I should just just drop
> them from the
> list and move on, each said 'no'.

They are probably trying to be polite. Drop a few from the list and see how
many contact you and "ask" to be put back on.

> I don't have resources for a usability lab, but I must assume
> that something in
> the process is causing embarrassment or perhaps is bringing a
> skill shortage to
> their attention and causing dissonance. Each will be different
> though, and no
> one can be expected to stand up and say, "hey, I'm stupid"....
> That's why I'm
> looking for unique approaches, not examples of self-centered
> personalities. My
> goal is to minimize that gap between their electronic skills and what is
> required to get the data, however simplistic it may be. To an already
> annoyed-at-having-to-use-the-pc person, popups can be bad, so the
> solution has
> to approach that gingerly.

If these people are "already annoyed-at-having-to-use-the-pc", then maybe
the telephone or personal contact is best to gather the data.

Good luck to you Skip.

-- Mark



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