[via
PC World]:
So you're designing a new product and you want to make sure you infuriate as many customers as possible. Be sure to do at least a few of the following things:
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- Force us to reboot our systems any time we install or uninstall your product.
- Automatically install into the Windows system tray and launch at startup.
- Force us to read the manual just to figure out how to turn on the damned thing.
- Pop up little reminders for things we don't want to do.
- Make tech-support contact information nearly impossible to find--or, better yet, don't include any.
- Install a bunch of extra software nobody asked for or wants.
- Automatically sign us up for e-mail newsletters and other announcements.
- Charge us $35 per call to speak to "Bob" in Bangalore when we have problems.
- Force us to upgrade products to get the same functionality we already had in the old version.
- Make us enter the same information (like e-mail addresses) multiple times.
- Require us to retype squiggly letters that are virtually impossible for humans to decipher when signing up for new accounts. (Note to Microsoft: This means you.)
- Force us to register products and/or nag us until we capitulate.
- Promise to remember our log-ins and password, yet still make us enter them every time.
- Insist on updating the product when all we want to do is quit it and go home.
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