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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: K-Menu/Xandros Launch
From:       "Michael E. Peligro" <optimus () philwebinc ! com>
Date:       2002-09-21 8:06:19
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On Saturday 21 September 2002 02:35 pm, Aaron J. Seigo wrote:

> just curious: what's your source of information on this?

PC Magazine October 6, 1998, article "Making Software Easier through 
Usability Testing" by Neil Randall, pages 285 -288, I quote (from page 288):

<quote>

"According to Microsoft, early prototypes of Windows 95 fell flat, with 
people finding it extremely difficult to make the conceptual switch from 
Windows 3.x. Participants had a great deal of trouble with seemingly simple 
tasks such as finding and opening Write (in the Accessories group). Testing 
revealed that people didn't actually work with the operating system, but 
rather with applications, and the Start button concept emerged from that 
realization."

</quote>

The Start button does the work of solving the problem  "Where to start?".

The article is an enlightening read. The author explains succinctly how to 
setup a usability lab (using Microsoft's design). Microsoft's own website on 
usability labs similarly details the setup, but omits (purposely?) explaining 
the methodology of its testing procedures and several other usability metrics 
that can be statistically quantified, measured, and graphed. The article 
explains what these "metrics" are.

I notice a rather uncomfortable "finding" in the paragraph. "People work with 
applications"? I personally prefer Apple's findings that "People work with 
documents (or types of files)". Like, "my mp3 file, my graphic files, my 
pictures, my movies, my documents". "File-centric", rather than 
"Application-Centric" is more "real-world" and easy-to-relate. Examples of 
user conversations: "I have a lot of mp3 files in that computer. A lot more 
pictures" I have a text document, etc.." Users almost and always speak of 
files as products of their work. Apps are only means to this end.

If testing revealed that people work with applications, I assume they've 
scratched the surface but sort of stopped there. Applications are a way to 
reach the ultimate end -- documents.(1) see footnotes.

This is perhaps why users get confused with a lot of Linux applications that 
do the same thing. It's hard to learn one application, much less many 
applications that do the same thing. Ordinary users want to use only one 
program (minimizing the learning curve, maximizing efficiency) that does the 
job well.

Well, after all, that's the burden we have to carry with Linux having many 
"choices". The skill is to find a middle-ground, where Linux distributions 
sets up documents to be opened by a "good default" program. (Example:  Xmms 
for mp3s, but KDE would rather open these type of files in Noatun or others).

Also, your "Task-based Menu" is a good way to find this middle ground. 
Correctly recognizing the fact that people approach the computer -- "to do 
tasks" (write a text file, surf the net, play/record mp3s). Files are 
products of these 'tasks' (such as graphic files, e-mails sent).

Looking it up this way, we can see the difference between a users view and 
the programmers view. The programmers view is correct (Operating System --> 
Applications --> Files). This view is needed to build applications. 
Usability-wise, the (Tasks --> Files) view is better for ordinary users, and 
this view will help Linux become more friendly to them. A lot of work is 
needed to get "wrap this view" around Linux desktops, where we get to see the 
(Tasks --> Files) view first, and scratch the (Operating System --> 
Applications --> Files) underneath.

I'd love to post the article to a website for comments (I don't know how to 
do this), or perhaps I can manually type the whole article in an e-mail 
message (since I don't have an OCR package). Any good OCR-app for KDE? 
Linux?). Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Michael

PS. By the way, your "Task-based Menu" is a winner. Hope you find the time to 
polish it :-)


Footnotes:

(1) Or perhaps Microsoft, as early as 1998, betrayed their monopolistic 
tendencies early on of a "virtual monopoly" where all apps are 
Microsoft-dominated, and no one elses is (or is downgraded through 
monopolistic practices). Looking at it this way, only Microsoft programs are 
used to open documents (files).

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