Problems with setup and feedback to designers

[Dannono]

Hi People...

I have just gone through a stressful period with a friend,

who is in her 60's and not too tech-savvy, in trying to set up

her product (FB/Surge).   She is really frrustrated with the whole

process and is returning the product for a refund ... so I will take you

through the obstacles we encountered and if this is feedback that will

help your company design a better product, that is more user-friendly...

so be it.

Sometimes people who want heart monitors / sleep monitors are people

who are older, or with medical issues; people of a set who are not "techies"

and have problems with the flow of modern technology.  I will outline these

problems.  I am a web designer by trade, have been for 15 years, and I

appreciate clear and helpful user interfaces and intuitive designs.  (one reason

I switched from PC to Mac platform years ago).

1. We hook up the device and usb bud to computer.  We are looking to download the supporting software from fitbit/setup as indicated.  the screen on the watch is dim and hard to read.  We get to the fitbit website, and - in an indirect way that is not clearly noted, there is no software download there, we have to either go through iTunes or Microsoft.  Bad One.  Obstacles to the download process.
2. She is not on a Mac, does not want iTunes on her computer, so we go to Microsoft.  Now it turns out, we have to set up a Microsoft account in order to get the software.  Bad two.  Are you owned by Microsoft?  Is this absolutely necessary?  More passwords to remember.  More spam mail to deal with.  On and on.  This is the only way, so we are forced to do it.
3. We set up a microsoft account, then download the software. And install it.  It takes a long time upgrade or update Surge.  Finally it's done.  Then the whole screen is gone.  There's no control panel or user interface ... or you have to go back to Fitbit and then start (yet another) account to get to a control panel?
4. We tried our best to navigate through the menu on the screen and swipe thru the screen options.  Absolutely NOTHING that said "heart rate" or "heart monitor" ... which is what she bought the product for.  Also nothing which said "Sleep tracking or sleep monitor".  If it's there, it's not visible or obvious or easy to find.  (so now, I find out, there's a 53 page manual about how to operate this watch. Hmm. My friend has health issues inclucing chronic fatigue; she will not read or understand a 53 page manual, nor will I even bother to attempt it, wasting hours of my time, trying to engineer a piece of technology that should be simple easy and friendly.  OOPS.
5. So that's that.  My friend has had enough.  She decides to return the item.  So I get a phone call from her the next day, and now, somehow, after we set up this "Microsoft Account", Microsoft has taken over her Windows 10 interface and installed a user password ON HER COMPUTER now, which was never there before, WITHOUT HER PERMISSION, and now she needs to use this password to access her computer (the MS account password we were FORCED TO USE to download this software.   WONDERFUL.

Hey People...

This is only one of the many reasons I quit Microsoft years ago and switched to Mac.  Their user interface is friendly, clean, simple and intuitive.   You don't get roped into anything without your permission.  Developers for Mac apps can still sell and distribute drivers and software without going through the iTunes or Mac App store.  This is a democracry, right? 🙂

Because what we went through, the time wasted, and the frustration we are not impressed with this device, with the complicated interface and design, and with the convoluted process of even acquiring the proper drivers.  Hours wasted.

If this means anything to you, take it to heart and use it.  We are not all 20 year old nerds who can wade through pages of technical jargon to find a simple menu item.

if your equipment is good equipment - which it may well be; we had too many obstacles in the way to even find out - then make it easy for people to  use, and make it easy for drivers, GUI, etc to be downloaded.  There is an older generation of people (like us) who may benefit from your device, but we will not put up with what we had to go through to make it work.

Thanks for taking the time to consider this feedback ...

Dan

[SunsetRunner]

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@Dannono wrote:

Hi People...

Sometimes people who want heart monitors / sleep monitors are people

who are older, or with medical issues; people of a set who are not "techies"

and have problems with the flow of modern technology.  I will outline these

problems.  I am a web designer by trade, have been for 15 years, and I

appreciate clear and helpful user interfaces and intuitive designs.  (one reason

I switched from PC to Mac platform years ago).

1. We hook up the device and usb bud to computer.  We are looking to download the supporting software from fitbit/setup as indicated.  the screen on the watch is dim and hard to read.  We get to the fitbit website, and - in an indirect way that is not clearly noted, there is no software download there, we have to either go through iTunes or Microsoft.  Bad One.  Obstacles to the download process.
2. She is not on a Mac, does not want iTunes on her computer, so we go to Microsoft.  Now it turns out, we have to set up a Microsoft account in order to get the software.  Bad two.  Are you owned by Microsoft?  Is this absolutely necessary?  More passwords to remember.  More spam mail to deal with.  On and on.  This is the only way, so we are forced to do it.
3. We set up a microsoft account, then download the software. And install it.  It takes a long time upgrade or update Surge.  Finally it's done.  Then the whole screen is gone.  There's no control panel or user interface ... or you have to go back to Fitbit and then start (yet another) account to get to a control panel?
4. We tried our best to navigate through the menu on the screen and swipe thru the screen options.  Absolutely NOTHING that said "heart rate" or "heart monitor" ... which is what she bought the product for.  Also nothing which said "Sleep tracking or sleep monitor".  If it's there, it's not visible or obvious or easy to find.  (so now, I find out, there's a 53 page manual about how to operate this watch. Hmm. My friend has health issues inclucing chronic fatigue; she will not read or understand a 53 page manual, nor will I even bother to attempt it, wasting hours of my time, trying to engineer a piece of technology that should be simple easy and friendly.  OOPS.
5. So that's that.  My friend has had enough.  She decides to return the item.  So I get a phone call from her the next day, and now, somehow, after we set up this "Microsoft Account", Microsoft has taken over her Windows 10 interface and installed a user password ON HER COMPUTER now, which was never there before, WITHOUT HER PERMISSION, and now she needs to use this password to access her computer (the MS account password we were FORCED TO USE to download this software.   WONDERFUL.

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1) and 2) ask Apple and Microsoft why they force users to only use iTunes or Windows Store to install a lot of software on iOs or Windows 8.1/10.

It's possible to install Fitbit Connect instead of a Windows App.

On this Windows 10 computer, i don't use the Windows App.

an Itunes account to install a Windows sofware on Windows 10 ? Are you really Mac friendly ?

4) Fitbit are not medical devices. If it has been purchased for, that's an error. And yes, it's better to be informed before purchasing

5) I have an advantage on you. I'm in IT since more years than you. It's not necessary to switch to a MS account when using Windows 10. But once more, you must understand what's you're doing.

This message has been written on a Windows 10 computer without Microsoft account and password, without Windows App.

[Dannono]

I appreciate your attempt to clarify.  It seems that FITBIT is simply another "Microsoft" gadget, that obeys the rules of the "Microsoft Kingdom". 

As far as software designers go, they have options to operate OUTSIDE of both iTunes and MS Store.  Since FB is simply a "child of Microsoft", then, you're stuck with whatever hoops Bill Gates makes you jump through.

It doesn't matter what you label it.  ("medical device").  It's supposed to report heart-rate and sleep cycle patterns.  Our point was, "what's the use if you can't find them...?"

Being in IT offers no advantage when dealing with confusing software and bad GUI's.  I don't have time to be bothered with "bad software" anymore. That's why I'm on a Mac.  If it takes me a 53-page manual to "understand what I'm doing", well.. this ain't my toy, sorry....

[SunsetRunner]

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It's supposed to report heart-rate and sleep cycle patterns.

As far as software designers go, they have options to operate OUTSIDE of both iTunes and MS Store. 

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it reports.

i think you have an iphone.

can you install software out of the Apple Store ?

[MikeF]

It's funny, I've just been reading the threads where the Windows Phone owners are berating Fitbit because they don't offer notifications on Windows (because they don't use the mechanisms Microsoft provide) and yet here they are a "Microsoft" child. Reality, I suspect, is somewhere in the middle.

[FleetFoot]

This sucks.  I want to install the fitbit software on my new Windows laptop but I don't want to set up a MSFT account.  I'm not in IT and not real tech savy so here I am spending a lot of time reading  trying to figure out how to do this.  It should not take this much time.  Why can't the Fitbit software be easily downloaded from their website?