Re: [Usability] user levels, etc.

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Luis Villa">

> Participants in psychological testing are also paid. And there is still
> heavy, heavy concern with selection bias. It's not about money, it's about
> time and opportunity. There is an extremely extensive literature on this
> that the UI people I've known (not really having a psych background)
> ignore.

I didn't do psych for long enough to get hit with this; I'm interested in
some pointers though. If you think it's on topic, send to the list,
otherwise send direct. Thanks. :)

> > Did we actually get any really good usability testing done on this? Did
> > Eazel? I really do agree that ~ as the desktop is better. *Hackers* may
> > have a lot of files in their ~, but everyone else? :)
> 
> As an aside (because I don't think this has much to do with the main
> discussion) the hackers I know who have tried this actually love it
> because it forces them to clean up ~, which makes them more productive in
> the long term.

Mmm, strangely, I didn't understand what the attraction to having it as a
non ~ directory was until someone explained that they would have a very
messy desktop.

... "So clean it up, then?"

;)

> Yes... but... simplicity and minimalism are not tied that tightly. I agree
> 100% wholeheartedly with simplicity. And I agree that there are cases
> where no matter how much work is done, one can't have the seriously crack
> pipe options and simplicity. So minimalism shouldn't be rejected out of
> hand. But it shouldn't be the final arbiter except when there are no other
> options.

I would like some other views on this... Anyone have any interesting tidbits
from the likes of Alan Cooper and Jakob Nielsen on this?

> >   "USABILITY is COMMUNISM: Have you, or have you ever been interested in
> >   GNOME usability?"
> 
> :) brand me a red, then.

Hurrah! :) We will have to leave Maciej to his crazy, gun-totin',
libburtarian ways then. ;)

> BTW, just to make it clear- I'm in this conversation not to flame people.

No way - your approach and perspective is absolutely worth thinking about,
even if on face value, some of us may not agree. [ It is far too hard to
think about holistic usability issues without having a lot of perspectives
thrown at you, so listening is very important. Unless crack is involved. ]

> I'm in it because I want both me and my mom and my little sis (now 9) all
> to be able to use GNOME. It cannot be one-size-fits all for all three of
> us. But I'm also aware the current format isn't workable for my mom. So...
> we'll keep working at it :)

:D

Those three-person tshirts were very popular in the eighties. We should get
some for GUADEC with feet. ;)

- Jeff

-- 
   "In the pre-Internet age, I was like an Internet kid, with a 3D search   
             engine, trying to find weird stuff." - John Safran