Re: [Usability]Re: `New' sub-menu in desktop's rightclick-menu

[David Moles <david moles vykor com>]

On Thu, 2002-05-23 at 06:08, Calum Benson wrote:
> Alex Larsson wrote:
> 
> > Usability is important, and so is ease-of-learning. But they are not
> > exactly the same, although they are quite related.
> 
> Not pertaining to this discussion particularly, but for anyone who's
> interested in such things, there does exist an official ISO definition
> of "usability":  "the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with
> which a specified set of users can achieve a specified set of tasks in a
          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

This is an interesting point and probably a good one to remember --
we can't talk about usability without answering the question "for 
whom?" For an experienced emacs user, emacs is extraordinarily
usable -- an experienced emacs user can efficiently and effectively
achieve and be satisified with a very large set of tasks. However,
where ease of learning is concerned, for users with (e.g.) a post-
Macintosh GUI background, emacs can be like trying to tie your shoes
while blindfolded, handcuffed, and immersed in a vat of jelly.

Is there an official statement anywhere as to who GNOME's audience
is, or who GNOME's audiences are? I seem to hear at least three 
different arguments on this list: GNOME is for free software hackers;
GNOME is for ex-Windows uers; GNOME is for the several billion people
out there who have not yet had any exposure to computers.

Probably it's all three, and we need to strike a balance... which I
think we've been doing a reasonable job of so far, at least where the
first two groups are concerned. (Lack of consistency may cause problems
for the last group.)