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List:       kde-usability
Subject:    user study
From:       mattc <matt () flowine ! com>
Date:       2001-08-19 17:17:58
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> > >This testing needs
> > > to be done with the current, stable KDE2.2.

Yes and no.  If this was just going to be a general study of new users 
impressions of KDE, then this would be true.  But, a general test like this 
wouldn't be very usefull to the programmers, and would exclude a large pool 
of potential test givers who do not run KDE2.2.

There is a better solution, and it lies in keeping a flexable structure for 
this study.  First some broad statements of how the study should be 
organized, and then I'll explain some of the benefits of this structure.

Most importantly, the study will be modularized.  This means that we will be 
able to drop in different modules to each individual test as needed.  If the 
programmers come at us and say, they really need feedback on KPanel, we can 
drop that module in, and quickly get some test results.

The study will have a hierarchy structure much like KPanel.

It will have different sections: KOffice, KOrganizer, Konquer, KPanel, etc... 
 
These sections will have different modules.  For instance, within KOffice 
there will be: KWord, KSpread,KPresenter, KChart, and KIllistrator.

Within the modules there will be focuses.  In KWord there will be many, many 
different focuses like: Configure Toolbars, fonts, insert picture, tables, 
spell check, etc...


This is a powerfull structure for the KDEvaluation because this is an ongoing 
study, ever changing, and needing to quickly meet the needs of programmers 
working on specific projects.  My hope is that programmers will activly 
participate in writing new focuses, and deliver them to the usability group 
to present to real users.

This strucure also works well with different versions of KDE.  For every new 
version, not everything is changed, so a study administered on 2.0 may be 
just as usefull as 2.2 if the focuses evaluated in the 2.0 version havn't 
been tinkered with in upgrades.  

Continuing our KWord example may best illistrate this point.  Just for the 
sake of this argument, imagine that the spell checker saw a major upgrade in 
V2.1, but the Bold-Indent-Underline controls have remained unchanged since 
V2.0.  When a focus is written, the author must do a little research, and 
determine what versions of KDE results for this focus are usefull for.  So, 
if I was writing a focus for Bold controls, I would note that this operation 
can be studied on versions as old as 2.0.  If I was writing a focus for spell 
checker, I would note that it could be studied on 2.1 and later.

Once we have a lot of these focuses written, the task will be to create a 
KDE2.0 study that is relevent to the current development release, a 2.1 
study, and a 2.2 study.  That way, everyone can be involved in generating 
meaningful results.


Hope it's sunny where you are,
Matt  

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