This Chart Shows How Computer Literate Most People Are.
If you’ve ever got the impression that most people aren’t as good at computers as you are, you finally have the data to back them up. The chart above shows the distribution of technical skills and there is a pretty narrow circle almost everywhere at the top.
This graph is taken from a study by a group of the International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development . Between 2011 and 2015, the OECD conducted a study involving 215,942 people in 33 countries. The study tested the skills of people between the ages of 16 and 65 to measure their literacy in work-related technical skills. The tests ranged from simple tasks like deleting email (considered “below level 1”) to finding out things like “What percentage of emails sent by John Smith in the last month were about sustainability?” (considered level 3). The participants were then rated based on the tasks they were able to complete.
The results are unsurprising if you’ve ever worked in a help desk. About 5% of the US population is at level 3 – the highest level of computer literacy. Another 26% are at level 2, where users can do things like “find the sustainability document sent to you by John Smith last October.” Those who make it to level 2 are most likely not developers or engineers, but they do it.
However, for 69% of the population below level 2, complex skills are still difficult to acquire. 26% of people did not even know how to use a computer. The full report at the link below shows how these numbers are broken down by age range. However, the numbers provide some indication of how skilled the population is as a whole.
If you are the type of person who is well versed in technology (and if you are reading this site, the likelihood that you have is higher than usual), then it’s safe to assume that not everyone shares your skills. Some people may not even need to. The average office worker may not have to fiddle with command lines or complex spreadsheet functions if they can find their email. Rather than expecting everyone to know what you know intuitively, it might be better to be patient as you design things for them to use or help them learn a new skill.