Re: [Gimp-gui] User Testing Report

[Elle Stone <ellestone ninedegreesbelow com>]

On 05/10/2019 08:21 AM, Alexandre Prokoudine via gimp-gui-list wrote:
> > Maybe a more interesting user testing with beginners should be done like
> > this: they first follow a short introduction/lesson to common and
> > limited set of features with examples of usage. Then they are asked to
> > do a given task with what they have learned and the tools they were just
> > explained. This would be much more interesting maybe.
> I tend to disagree.
>
> A common scenario is that a user installs software he/she sees for the
> first time and tries to do something practical. If terminology is
> overly complicated/nerdy, defaults are convoluted, and tools don't
> work as expected (e.g. closing a path in GIMP doesn't work the same
> way as in pretty much every other software, as was pointed out in the
> report), chances are -- that user is lost to us.

Could you give an example or two in GIMP of what you consider "overly 
complicated/nerdy" terminology?

Could you give some examples of convoluted defaults?

I don't know about the path tool working differently than the pen tool, 
because in all my 17 years of editing photographs using a computer, I've 
never once had a reason to use a path/pen tool. I'm baffled as to why 
anyone would try to use the path tool to make a selection.

There is a great big huge difference between a "complete newbie" who's 
never edited a photograph before, and a "newbie to GIMP" who already 
knows how to use an equivalent program such as PhotoPaint or PhotoShop.

A user who is clueless about editing photographs, is not going to find 
GIMP OR other advanced image editors easy to use.

> A common scenario is that a user installs software he/she sees for the
> first time and tries to do something practical. If terminology is
> overly complicated/nerdy, defaults are convoluted, and tools don't
> work as expected (e.g. closing a path in GIMP doesn't work the same
> way as in pretty much every other software, as was pointed out in the
> report), chances are -- that user is lost to us.

> Blender did a fantastic job with 2.80 on defaults and accessibility of
> tools. People who teach Blender say, on average, their students make a
> lot more progress with 2.80 than with 2.79.

One of the first things I did after switching to Linux was download and 
install Blender, because someone told me it was really cool. I tried to 
do something "practical". I failed. I didn't have a single clue what 
Blender was used for. This wasn't a failing of the interface.

I just downloaded Blender 2.8, and even though now I have a few clues as 
to what Blender is used for, I still have absolutely no clue what to do 
with Blender 2.8. Even the stuff I was shown regarding basic 
photo-editing in previous versions of Blender, seems to have moved. Not 
that I would ever recommend anyone using any version of Blender to edit 
photographs.

There is a great big *huge* difference between being a student in a 
classroom with a *teacher* explaining the interface and how to use the 
program, and especially for complete newbies who've never used 
equivalent software and possibly having no clue what the software can 
used for, vs having these same newbies trying to figure it out on their own.

> So we do need to know
> how newbies see GIMP for the first time.

I used PhotoShop for several years. When I first started using GIMP-2.9 
I found GIMP to be basically "just like PhotoShop". I had deliberately 
set PhotoShop (the CS2 version) up in Multi Window Mode (detached all 
the dialogs to be free-floating, leaving a skinny bar at the top of the 
screen with menus and such), just about as soon as I started using it, 
so the whole "Single Window/Multiple Windows" issue wasn't even a 
consideration. I like MWM, it allows to maximize configurability and 
screen real estate.

My problems with using GIMP have been, in order of importance:

1. The lack of support for high bit depth editing, which finally became 
more or less possible after 2013, using GIMP-2.9.

2. The lack of support for editing in RGB color spaces other than sRGB, 
which in 2019 *still* GIMP lacks support for editing in RGB color spaces 
other than sRGB.

3. The lack of adjustment layers.

4. To a lesser extent for me, but high on the list for anyone with a 
high volume workflow, is the lack of an easy way to record and play 
sequences of editing steps. Programming at the command line to achieve 
this goal is not a simple task, so it's no substitute for some 
equivalent of PhotoShop macros.

5. Not a problem for me, but GIMP lacks good CMYK support, which many 
photographers simply don't need. But apparently some do, though I'm 
guessing the DTP people and graphic designers are the ones who really, 
really, really need CMYK.

I know of other people who are familiar with using PhotoShop, who also 
find GIMP easy to use, *except* for items 2, 3, and 4 listed above. From 
perusing forums, some or all of these items are "deal breakers" for 
many, many people who would otherwise switch to GIMP. Though personally 
I don't know of anyone for whom lack of good CMYK support is the actual 
"deal breaker".

GIMP's current user interface is the *least* important problem when it 
comes to actual usability. Adding still-missing critical functionalities 
is hugely more important than revising the interface to make it simpler 
for newbies. It's a complete shame that the switch to GTK3/4 has had to 
take priority over adding critical missing functionalities to GIMP.

> So we do need to know
> how newbies see GIMP for the first time.

Regarding being a "complete newbie", my first editing software was Corel 
PhotoPaint. PhotoPaint was incredibly well-documented on the internet, 
"complete newbies" had vast resources available to them. And most online 
tutorials on PhotoShop could be followed using PhotoPaint.

GIMP also has extensive online documentation and tutorials, and again 
most PhotoShop tutorials can be followed using GIMP. All it takes is the 
willingness to search and learn. Asking "newbies to GIMP" and/or 
"complete newbies" to use GIMP without giving them access to the 
internet, seems like an odd thing to do in this age of instant information.

Though sadly search engines seem to be replacing first-page links to 
articles on "how to edit using software like PhotoPaint/PhotoShop/GIMP" 
with links to articles on how use to "instant push-button pretty", 
AI-driven software.

Best regards,
Elle
--
https://ninedegreesbelow.com
Color management and free/libre photography