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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    An Outline for KDE-Usability Questions
From:       JP S-C <jp_sc () yahoo ! com>
Date:       2001-07-26 20:05:02
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Jono Bacon wrote:

> OK, for the new site, I am going to have a rethink of the questin API to
> ensure it works perfectly. I still think the idea is sound of building a
> set of questions that we can just plug into a questionnaire.




                    An Outline for KDE-Usability Questions


                           By JP Schnapper-Casteras
                         <jpsc@users.sourceforge.net>

                                 First Draft

                                   7/26/01




Initial context for this outline:

        I think when we're designing questions that will be asked in a
KDE
usability study we, as more experienced KDE users and developers, have
to
break down KDE into the elements we want to study and improve rather
than
just jumping in and trying to re-create an "average KDE session".  The
latter course of action could lead to rather spotty coverage of KDE's
usability.  Therefore, in the hopes of creating questions which both
ease
the user into KDE and provide us particularly with useful answers broken
down by KDE component and application, I wrote up the following outline.




In order of appearance:

Startup:
        Login
        Splash screen
        Kandalf's tips

Basic behavior and navigation:
        Panel
                Main menu:
                        Organization
                        Naming scheme
                        Icons on and in the main menu
                        Editing/adding items to the main menu
                Buttons:
                        Default buttons (Do they make sense?)
                        Editing/adding buttons
                Applets:
                        Understanding / getting help on applets
                        Default applets
                        Adding applets
                        Special applets:
                                Taskbar
                                Pager
                                Quick Launcher
        Desktop:
                Default icons
                Editing/adding icons

        Window manager:
                Basic tasks (maximizing, minimizing, shading)
                Handling multiple windows

Commonly used applications:
        Konqueror
        KMail
        KOffice
        Viewers:
                Text viewer (KWrite)
                PS/PDF viewer
                Multimedia viewer(s)
        Specialized creative tools:
                Graphics creation tools
                Multimedia creation (aRts)
                Application creation (KDevelop) (Very advanced users)

Getting help:
        General help
        Application-specific help

Configuring/personalizing:
        KControl
        Panel
        Window manager
        Application-specific configuration

Random more difficult tasks:
        # These need to be put in some sort of order
        Inserting a special character into a document (e.g., an accent
mark)
        Using Klipper
        Copying, cutting, selecting and pasting
        Changing the time or date
        Printing and/or configuring a printer
        Reading/writing/formatting a floppy disk
        Connecting to the Internet
        Setting up an Internet connection
        Setting up an e-mail account in KMail
        Interoperability with GNOME (for more advanced users)

Free exploration

General impressions

Closing up:
        Quiting applications and closing windows
        Saving settings
        Logging out

What we can take from this:
        Application-specific UI tweaks
        Changes to the KDE style guide
        Changes to basic behavior and organization of KDE (e.g., Panel,
KControl)
        A list of things developers should consider (usability-wise)
when
creating an application
        Perhaps a "Getting Started with KDE" guide

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