ableism incl. ableist slur, tech jargon question 

given that idiots don't exist, what does "idiot proof" actually mean?

like, obviously there's patterns that can be observed of characteristics shared by such tools, but what's the design philosophy underlying these choices?

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ableism incl. ableist slur, tech jargon question 

@packbat I'd say that to "idiot proof" something is to design it such that an user with no familiarity or direction is likely to use it as intended on the first attempt.

You know, like a dark pattern, but when it's what the user actually wants.

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re: ableism incl. ableist slur, tech jargon question 

@ElectricKeet interesting! so stuff like reasonable default settings, then?

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re: ableism incl. ableist slur, tech jargon question 

@packbat Yup! Reasonable default settings, shapes that imply intended usage, using color and other visual elements to draw the eye to "the obvious", responses to incorrect use that nudge the user toward the correct use, stuff like that.

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