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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: Why I don't stay involved
From:       Simon Edwards <simon () simonzone ! com>
Date:       2002-06-28 21:05:42
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> >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.

which is why the designs are discussed on this list first, before coding is 
done.

> 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.

You've left out Design. There is no point testing if you don't have design to 
test. Also, testing will only tell you what's bad, but not how to fix it...

I think that right now design is the most important Usability related task 
that should be done in KDE. Most of KDE was not designed by people with 
knowledge of usability, user interface or interaction design, hence things 
suck in many ways. There is not much point in testing things that we already 
know to suck.  It's a better idea to go through KDE and find the most 
important parts, find the most broken parts.  (They are obvious and easy to 
find right now. Then do a re-design using our knowledge of interface design 
etc, discuss it on the list etc.  Only after a decent design has been made, 
go test it and see how the users find it. Am I making sense?

Also you have to bear in mind that there is little point in testing without 
people to re-design and also people to implement the redesigns and get them 
into KDE CVS. Right now we have a long shopping list of things that need to 
be fixed (read: coded) but not enough people to do it.

> 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.

Well, you'll never know if you don't try. :-) If you have knowledge and 
skills, share them around. We are all willing to learn new things, and if we 
had someone who can help 'guide' us to what we need to learn, that would be 
great.

cheers,

-- 
Simon Edwards             | Guarddog Firewall
simon@simonzone.com       | http://www.simonzone.com/software/
Nijmegen, The Netherlands | "ZooTV? You made the right choice."


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