Yesterday I visited my Dad to assist him in getting his new Dell laptop up (with XP),  a new Linksys Wireless router installed and to publish some "treasures" onto Craigslist. Seems like it would have been an easy enough task for a person who spends a lot of time creating user experiences for a living. In fact, about 3 years ago I was part of a group brought together to brainstorm a feature which would assist users setting up a wireless network with Vista. It seemed pretty straight forward but there always seems to be some "unknowns" that pop-up when you least expect them to.

Yesterdays experience had plenty of "unknowns" which left me shaking my head more than twice. I followed the instructions for setting up the router EXACTLY as they were presented. Even the quick animations about where to plug the cables, despite having set up a few routers in the past. Hovering over the connection icon in the system tray displayed that connection strength was excellent even through it was seeking authentication? This went on for a while and had me unplugging/reconnecting cables, the modem and the router. Strangely, each time I went through the set-up there were new instructions that would appear from the previous time. In addition, the Dell Wireless Assistant kept trying to cut in line. At times, both would display that connection was excellent but no connection to the Internet was available. A task that should have taken minutes was now taking hours. Eventually, I discovered that wireless activity was working and cautiously unplugged the cable coming from the router (a part of the process as defined by Linksys). I restarted the laptop and again - no connection!?!

In the act of throwing up my hands and plugging the cable back in for what was going to be the final attempt - it hit me! The reason for the trouble was a conflict occurring between Linksys and the (not so helpful) Dell Wireless Assistant. Arg! Opening the assistant, I unchecked the box that was giving permission to Dell for controlling the wireless connection. The result - connection! What a mess, a truly horrible user experience. The good news is that if you are in the market for an older Kenwood AM/FM receiver or 10 gallon fish tank, Craiglist has a couple new postings for you to browse through.

Frustrated