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List: kde-devel
Subject: Who are our users?
From: Shantanu Tushar Jha <shantanu () kde ! org>
Date: 2014-04-24 15:19:05
Message-ID: CABQ4Km8P0sFVcvDWRsoeUANv_Zq--q=S3y0f80NS-m_=RRpq-A () mail ! gmail ! com
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Hi folks!
Each of us keep an idea about our target users when we write KDE software,
be it our workspaces, our applications or anything. From recent threads on
the list, I have started doubting if the ideas I have in mind have been
correct or not all the years I've been in KDE. So, I started asking myself
about what my answer would be to "of all users of KDE software, what type
of users are the majority?".
** When I look at a desktop[1] computer users today, I categorize them[2]
as-
== Casual users ==
These users primarily want their computer to do a set of tasks, and do it
as soon as possible. Whatever it takes, they *try* to spend the least time
on the computer.
== Advanced users ==
These users are similar to casual ones in the sense that they want their
work done as soon as possible. However, they go the extra mile to figure
out ways in which they can optimize their workflow or use some software
cleverly. This way they are actually able to get more done.
== Power users ==
These users generally use their computer for a even broader set of tasks
and will try to solve each and every real world problem using software on
their computers. Something that is very important for such users is the
software to be highly customizable to suit their style of working. They
will juice out each and every feature of the software to get the maximum
benefit they can. Time is usually less of a problem for these folks,
however they are also very picky about choosing a software that meets their
needs.
== Students, employees on their company-provided computers ==
This category will actually have users from all of the above. However,
there is a difference in the sense that they will not be the ones making
the choice on what OS they will be using. The choice will usually be made
for them by their schools, and companies respectively.
** Now, given the above set of users, going by only my observation and
experience, the Operating System choice looks something like this-
== Casual users ==
most of them will use Windows as it still is the most popular among similar
people, some of them will use OSX - mostly people who can afford an Apple
computer
== Advanced users ==
The number of people using Windows will be a bit higher than the number of
people using OSX, followed by a small fraction using a Linux distribution
== Power users ==
There will be some Windows users who install lot of tweaking tools, and
quite some OSX users with the same pattern. However, most of these users
will be using a Linux distribution (or BSD etc) with a choice of a desktop
environment, email client etc) because they find the ease of customization
and the feeling of control of the whole system.
Now, just in Power users, there will be a huge variety of distros and DEs
that people will choose. When I think about DEs, (again this is only from
experience and blog posts on the Internet) people who choose KDE do that
because we offer *lots* of features and the maximum level of customization
when compared to any other DEs.
So, that was my attempt at recollecting my thoughts from the last few days.
I'll love to hear what you guys think about it - is it close to the
reality? Or, did I get it all wrong? Or, there's just no way to be even
remotely sure? This it will help me a lot as a KDE contributor, to make
sure the software I write is a delight to our users.
[1] and laptops, netbooks etc, excluding mobile devices though
[2] and I am no usability expert as well, so I can be wrong about user
profiles
Cheers!
--
Shantanu Tushar (UTC +0530)
http://www.shantanutushar.com
[Attachment #5 (text/html)]
<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>Hi folks!<br><br></div>Each of us keep an idea \
about our target users when we write KDE software, be it our workspaces, our \
applications or anything. From recent threads on the list, I have started doubting if \
the ideas I have in mind have been correct or not all the years I've been in KDE. \
So, I started asking myself about what my answer would be to "of all users of \
KDE software, what type of users are the majority?".<br>
<br></div>** When I look at a desktop[1] computer users today, I categorize them[2] \
as-<br></div><div><br>== Casual users ==<br>These users primarily want their computer \
to do a set of tasks, and do it as soon as possible. Whatever it takes, they *try* to \
spend the least time on the computer.<br>
<br>== Advanced users ==<br>These users are similar to casual ones in the sense that \
they want their work done as soon as possible. However, they go the extra mile to \
figure out ways in which they can optimize their workflow or use some software \
cleverly. This way they are actually able to get more done.<br> <br>== Power users \
==<br>These users generally use their computer for a even broader set of tasks and \
will try to solve each and every real world problem using software on their \
computers. Something that is very important for such users is the software to be \
highly customizable to suit their style of working. They will juice out each and \
every feature of the software to get the maximum benefit they can. Time is usually \
less of a problem for these folks, however they are also very picky about choosing a \
software that meets their needs.<br> <br>== Students, employees on their \
company-provided computers ==<br>This category will actually have users from all of \
the above. However, there is a difference in the sense that they will not be the ones \
making the choice on what OS they will be using. The choice will usually be made for \
them by their schools, and companies respectively.<br>
<p>** Now, given the above set of users, going by only my observation and experience, \
the Operating System choice looks something like this-</p>== Casual users ==<br>most \
of them will use Windows as it still is the most popular among similar people, some \
of them will use OSX - mostly people who can afford an Apple computer<ol>
</ol>== Advanced users ==<br>The number of people using Windows will be a bit higher \
than the number of people using OSX, followed by a small fraction using a Linux \
distribution<br><br>== Power users ==<br>There will be some Windows users who install \
lot of tweaking tools, and quite some OSX users with the same pattern. However, most \
of these users will be using a Linux distribution (or BSD etc) with a choice of a \
desktop environment, email client etc) because they find the ease of customization \
and the feeling of control of the whole system.<ol>
</ol><p>Now, just in Power users, there will be a huge variety of distros and DEs \
that people will choose. When I think about DEs, (again this is only from experience \
and blog posts on the Internet) people who choose KDE do that because we offer *lots* \
of features and the maximum level of customization when compared to any other \
DEs.</p> <p><br></p>So, that was my attempt at recollecting my thoughts from the last \
few days. I'll love to hear what you guys think about it - is it close to the \
reality? Or, did I get it all wrong? Or, there's just no way to be even remotely \
sure? This it will help me a lot as a KDE contributor, to make sure the software I \
write is a delight to our users.<br>
<br></div>[1] and laptops, netbooks etc, excluding mobile devices \
though<br></div><div>[2] and I am no usability expert as well, so I can be wrong \
about user profiles<br></div><div><div><div><div><div><br></div><div>Cheers!<br \
clear="all"> </div><div><br>-- <br>Shantanu Tushar (UTC +0530)<br><a \
href="http://www.shantanutushar.com" \
target="_blank">http://www.shantanutushar.com</a> \
</div></div></div></div></div></div>
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