Re: usability studies

[Lionel Dricot <zeploum gmail com>]

Hi Stormy,

I would be very very interested by the result of such a study. I would also be very interested by the details of the implementation and the raw results.

What I would be *really* interested in is an usability study with users that don't have any prior computer knowledge (so that are not deformed by Windows). As I've an usability background myself, I've tried several usability mini-studies with GNOME on Ubuntu (but with a very limited sample, never more than 10 people).

What I've discovered so far is that :

1. Home is Desktop option helps *a lot* elderlies and people with no prior computer knowledge. The difference decrease with computer experience.
http://ploum.frimouvy.org/?201-the-aristocratic-desktop-part-2-home-is-desktop

2. Single click option in nautilus is *always* an improvement. In fact, the double click is unusable by a large part of the population : elderlies, people with some kind of disabilities, ...  Most of my sample was simply unable to tell me when to double-click or when to simple click. Some of them are using a computer for 20 years ! (but nobody in my sample was "technology aware". They were users)
Article to come on my blog soon ;-)
On the "single-click" option is activated, I was surprized how quickly people forgot about double-click, to the point they were unable to play a song in rhythmbox : "I've clicked, it should play !"

3. Nautilus spatial seems to be better than classical browser for most users. Middle-advanced users didn't even noticed that I changed the behaviour. Heavy beginners were less afraid and more confortable with files.

4. The taskbar is completely non-intuitive for heavy beginners. The "minimize" action has no difference with the "close" action. Some long time users told me the same : they just didn't knew that there was a difference. What I'm trying to experiment right now is to change the "minimize" button by a "roll-in" button. It helps a lot but not all themes are supporting this metacity button.

5. Virtual desktop seems to be really intuitive. Users grasp it quickly if they need it. Funny stuff : the less the people use the taskbar, the more they understand quickly the virtual desktop.

6. The "tray icon" paradigm is nearly impossible to explain to people who never used Windows. It looks like the HIG was right and that abuse of the notification are should be reported as bugs. For Windows users, a contrario, it was "sooo natural".

So, those are a quick draft of my conclusions. I would like to see those point verified in a real usability study.

I'm aware that it might not fit in your "notebook" strategy as all I've said here is about traditionnal desktop usage. Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure that we could make the same experiments for mobile devices. The question is : does it make sense to have a mobile device with a tiny screen for an non-geek elderly ?

Cheers,

Lionel

2009/3/23 Stormy Peters <stormy gnome org>

I've been talking about doing a usability study for GNOME and I think the area that would be great to focus on is netbooks or other mobile devices. I think that small screens, small keyboards, touch screens, etc add a whole different dimension to usability.

Are others also interested in a usability study? If so, what would you be most interested in seeing? Would your company be willing to help fund one? (Please feel free to join in the conversation even if you can't help fund a study!)

Stormy



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