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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    Getting initial informations about users
From:       Charles de Miramon <charles.de.miramon () libertysurf ! fr>
Date:       2001-07-27 16:57:03
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Hello,
Maybe the future KDE Usability test should start with some general questions 
about the proficiency of the user. They didn't do that in the Gnome Usability 
Test and I think it is a flaw. The most important thing, in my view, is not 
to know how many 'tricks' a user know but how much OS general concepts (what 
is a file hierarchy, a device, a symlink, a user right, difference between a 
file and an application, an icon and a file, wildcards, directories, etc.) he 
understands. This knowledge is important to analyse the result of our 
usability tests. Somebody who knows what users rights are and who is 
incapable of changing them in Konqui gives us a much clearer signal of bad UI 
than somebody who is clueless about users rights.
I've drafted some questions ranging from easy to hard with the idea that at 
the end we could give a proficiency note from 1 to 10.
The weakness of this idea is that generally when you ask people, out of the 
blue, how to do this or that, they can't answer. But, when they are in front 
of the computer they manage much better. Bombarding them with abstract 
questions at the start is maybe not something intelligent
Well, nevertheless, food for thoughts
The list his incomplete and written in Gallic English ... Please add, modify, 
discard, suggest ...
Cheers,
Charles

User age :
1) 5-15
2) 16-30
3) 31-55
4) 55-

Gender :
1) female
2) male

What is your proficiency with computers
1) Iv'e never used a computer
2) I seldom use a computer
3) I use a computer once a week
4) I use a computer every day
5) I'm a power user

Can you do the following things with the computer you already use
1) Look on the Internet a specific Web page like http://www.kde.org
a) I've never did something similar
b) with difficulty
c) easily

2) Answer an e-mail
a) I've never did something similar
b) with difficulty 
c) easily

3) Write a letter in a Word processor and print it
a) I've never did something similar 
b) with difficulty
c) easily

4) Format a floppy and copy a file to the formatted floppy
a) I've never did something similar
b) with difficulty
c) easily

5) It is July and you want to copy all your files created between May and 
June from your HD to a floppy
a) I don't know how to do that or I'll try to remember the names of the files 
Ive created
b) I will look the dates on the file list and pick them one by one or I'll 
try to sort the list by date
c) I'll apply a filter on the directory to select all the relevant files

6) Change the background picture on your desktop
a) I've never did something similar
b) with difficulty
c) easily

7) You have erased your letter by mistake. Do you know how to open the backup 
file ?
1) I didnt know there was a backup file
2) I know there is a backup file but I dont know how to open it
3) No problem


With which operating system are you most familiar ?
1)Dos
2) Windows 3.1
3) Windows 95-98 ; Windows NT ; Windows ME ; Windows 2000
4) Windows XP
5) Apple OS
6) OS X
7) OS/2
8) Solaris / CDE
9) Others Unices
10) Linux / Gnome
11) Linux / Others Windows manager
12) Others OS

Have you ever used a Unix System ?
1) never
2) once
3) often
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