Computer anxiety

I just talked to a neighbour of mine over the phone. She had a computer crash this morning, and basically panicked. Now as I talk to her I notice one thing that I’ve noticed over and over again. Most non-technical people are actually afraid of computers.

Now she knows the best practices. Regular backups, anti-virus regularly updated, anti-phishing filters activated. Still she refuses to download anything on the laptop, even Spotify was a hard sell apparently. Out of one thing, she doesn’t want anything to happen to the computer.

How do I ease the anxiety she feels when she is using her computer?

The amount of stress a computer can cause on a non-technical person is horrifying, and is something we should keep in mind when designing software.

A good user interface is a user interface your mother can use, without stress.