[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Why I don't stay involved
From:       Robert Watkins <robert_maria () yahoo ! com>
Date:       2002-06-28 20:03:46
[Download RAW message or body]

Thanks for the quick reply.

> You say 
>you only read sporadically so how can you be 
>sure what is going on
I check back occassionally and the overwhelming
set of topics are focused on 'Look at my new
GUI!' or bug reports. Just using the word
Usability doesn't make it a discussion about
Usability. 

>
>I'm working on re-doing the background dialog 
>and after that
>the desktop dialogs. We discussed issues on the 
>board and 
>posted *.ui files with the new designs. A final 
>layout was
>agreed upon and now I'm trying to code. And Yes
>I have professional
>expience with laying out GUI's. I've a 
>programmer for 12 years
>mosy of which is in Unix, a few years in motif.
These are necessary and worthwhile tasks.
However, your response is typical when developers
are initially approached about doing Usability. I
have no doubts about your ability to create GUIs.
But your ability to _create_ GUIs says nothing
about your ability to apply Usability techniques
to creating _good_ GUIs.

>If there is something specific you wish to 
>discuss here
>bring it up. Just saying generally the board is 
>not what I 
>want doesn't help. 
Past attempts at initiating true Usability
discussions have failed. It may be because I'm
unable to say what I want in a way that the
members can hear, or it could be that as a group,
there isn't a clear understanding of Usability.
I'm not looking to insult anyone or claim any
superiority, but I don't see any evidence of any
knowledge of Usability beyond a superficial
level.

>What aspects do you want to 
>talk about, where 
>is the usability weak. 
Because of the nature of OSS, the organization of
the developers is loose and details of roles and
responsibilites are ill-defined. This isn't a
show-stopper, but by not strictly identifying
tasks as "Usability" tasks a developer falls into
a trap of competing goals. From a developer's
standpoint a GUI is finished when it works as
intended and is relatively attractive. However,
if the developer puts on his Usability hat, then
she/he is looking at things like Learnability,
Efficiency, Memorability, Errors, and
Satisfaction (a la Nielsen) A developer looking
at Usability tasks tend to dismiss them in order
to get down to coding.

I would be encouraged if I were to see a majority
of the discussion centered around topics like
"Testing prototypes remotely", "Prototype
creation tools", "Developing Usability Studies",
"Interpreting Usability Studies", "Strategic
plans for Usability in KDE" etc.

>And can you volunteer or 
>find people to 
>do usability testing. open source projects need 
>people
>who do things not just talk about them.
I'm not comfortable approacing co-workers about
getting involved because I'm not convinced their
expereince would be anything other than
frustrating.

> If
>you really want to make a difference be part of 
>the latter group. 
I keep poking my head in to see how things are
going. The path ahead for creating a complete
Usability group through this discussion board is
a daunting task, of which, I have neither the
time nor energy to devote to make this the
rewarding experience it can be.


I realize that the tone of this letter can be
seen as "This sucks and I won't help to fix it",
but that would be an oversimplification. I truly
appreciate all the time and effort that has been
put into this discussion since it's inception and
have no complaints about the abilities of the
people involved or the value of their work. My
point is that I don't believe this discussion
group focues enough on Usability as I, and many
others, know it to be.

I would like this thread to continue so that we
can try to find a plan that is both feasible and
meaningful that evolves this group into a
sophisticated discussion of solid Usability
techniques and how they are used in developing
KDE.

Robert Watkins

=====
--------------------------------------------------

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
kde-usability mailing list
kde-usability@mail.kde.org
http://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-usability
[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]