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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: KDE usability tests compared to Windows
From:       Sebastien Biot <seb () viralata ! net>
Date:       2002-07-28 3:15:28
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On Saturday 27 July 2002 15:33, you wrote: 
>Hmmmm.... Interesting He's entitled to his opinion.

I am indeed, but my opinion is not what's important. What's 
interesting I think is what usability studies (all, not just mine) 
can tell us about how people use KDE. That's all.


> I think this person is quite new to linux.

How's 5 years of constant use at work and at home? What's the point of 
that argument anyway? You do know that KDE runs on many other 
platforms than just Linux, don't you?


>"KDE is destined to end up in the hands of users who have little
> interest in filing bug reports and who will most likely not have
> the confidence or patience to explore, change, customize or hack
> their computer environment." I think is a statement that applies to
> most computer users regardless of environment. In some office
> environments the IS people actively discourage people from doing
> anything like that. My employer is a case in point.

You're right. And that's why we've got to get it right the first time 
around.


> The argument, that the default look and feel will
> be what a new user sees, is probably not true. IS will tweak and
> twiddle before allowing a user to have access.

Some things are tweaked sometimes but I have yet to meet a sys admin 
who has the time or interest to set up the look and feel of the 
system of which (s)he is in charge. You may still be right though. If 
admins don't do it, distributions do.


>The embedded viewer issue is really a matter of providing a bit of
> training. I think for a Widows user, a day or so of trainning
> should be sufficient for the person to learn the differences. It is
> less dangerous on the whole to have files open as read only than as
> read write. It eliminates the possibility that a user will
> accidently trash valuable information.

When you bought your television, DVD player, microwave... did you go 
and take classes on how to use those appliances? People who buy a 
WalMart PC with Mandrake preinstalled, do you think they will be 
trained to use it? Certainly not. Training is the worst possible 
excuse. No amount of training can compensate for bad design. Anyway, 
very few people receive computer training.

As for embedded viewers working against the dangers of "trash[ing] 
valuable information"... making the entire filesystem read only 
should work quite efficiently too you know. How about that?


> "irrelevant". On the contrary, it was established behavior to ride
> horses or have slaves. Innovation came up with better solutions. It
> was also established that the Sun went around the Earth. Stating
> other people's opinions about "deviating from a standard" does not
> strengthen the arugument about not deviating.

Sometimes you should deviate from the norm, sometimes you shouldn't. I 
think it is wise to think about when to do one or the other. 
Usability is one of these things where following the rules usually 
pays off. You may not like it but it's true. Now the whole "you gotta 
innovate, dude" speech... come one! Things change when holding on to 
the old ways is no longer possible... I don't think we're quite there 
yet with double-clicking. As for the whole "oh, goody, let's be 
forward thinking innovators!" bullshit, well... it may be OK in 
Disney movies and nationalistic hagiographies but in real life it 
just sounds simplistic.


> is great. But then we all knew that already. A few
> semi-computer-literate users having a few problems doesn't change
> anything.

The vast majority of computer users are computer-illiterate and not 
being able to edit one's files is not "a few problems," it's a major 
problem. This is why usability studies are useful, to touch base with 
reality. You and I aren't regular users so it's easy for us to forget 
what it's like "out there" for normal people dealing with computers. 
You cannot dismiss these kinds of issues as peripheral or irrelevant 
based on your own experience. And, you ignoring these issues won't 
make them go away and it certainly won't help making KDE better.

Sebastien

PS: Please CC replies as I'm not subscribed to kde-devel. Thanks.

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