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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Re: amaroK usability report
From:       Celeste Lyn Paul <celeste () kde ! org>
Date:       2006-05-01 23:12:41
Message-ID: 200605011912.48319.celeste () kde ! org
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Some of my comments:

1.  'skin' or 'theme' would also be good names to use as well

3. i dont know if this is really an issue.  the bigger issue is if users 
understand what collection means, if so then its more of a branding issue.

4. this is also a HIG compliance issue

7. also note that the file dialog does have shortcuts to things like home and 
favorites and that may be something the developers should look at when they 
redesign this dialog

12. in supplement to your dialog about vertical text: when we read, we 
basically recognize patters and not individual letters.  its easier for us to 
recognize vertical permutations of text (normal and upside down) however 
vertical and backwards text is much more difficult.  you may want to suggest 
them to use large icons with small text, it seems to do well for kontact.

14. menu organization is a big problem for applications.  you may want to 
suggest some alternate organizations since adoption of the new HIG will 
probably take time across the environment

16. more HIG stuff

(wow.. this is a thorough report..)

37. a lot of people are in favour of more descriptive buttons to help make 
choices.  where i see a lot of potential for this, it seems as if the dialog 
messages are getting more complicated because they dont have to fit in to an 
OK/Cancel decision

i see you are up on your readings, you reference a lot of important papers in 
your report.

its also worth noting that heuristics are often interface peculiarities that 
wont be caught by a user test, however they do effect the user on some level, 
usually subconciously.  sometimes a user may comment that something doesnt 
look or feel right but wont be able to pick out what is bothering them.

im not sure if i would have graded some of the issues you found the way you 
did, but overall it was a good review with good suggestions for the amaroK 
team.  thanks for your work!

~ Celeste

On Monday 01 May 2006 18:33, Chi Shang Cheng wrote:
> I have conducted a quick heuristic evaluation of amaroK.
>
> Abstract:
> After a short heuristic evaluation of Amarok, a total of 41 usability
> issues were found. Only 8 issues of low severity were found, 11 were marked
> medium, and the remaining 22 issues considered highly severe.
> Most of the issues were related to design flaws. The application was not
> tested for task-oriented usability. Even though the application functioned
> properly from a technical perspective, attention should be given to a more
> aesthetic user interface design in the future.
>
> I wished MS Word could handle images better... the spacing isn't correct
> here and there, but it's the content that matters. :)
>
> I have tried to upload the report on OpenUsability.org, but it didn't work.
> Hopefully, the following URL should work:
> http://chishangcheng.googlepages.com/amaroKusabilityreport.pdf
> It should be noted that this evaluation was not thorough. I'm planning to
> do some more usability work on amaroK after 1.4 final release. Hopefully,
> most issues that I have addressed can be fixed in time for 1.4. :)
>
> Comments are welcome!
>
> Chi Shang

-- 
Celeste Lyn Paul
KDE Usability Project
usability.kde.org

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