[Usability] Usability and Appeal - 2D versus 3D Gnome Desktop

[Patrick Carlson <firefly2442 gmail com>]

Hello,

Some time ago I asked on this mailing list for suggestions as to papers and websites dealing with Linux Usability.  This was the focus of my Psychology capstone.  Anyway, I finished the project but completely forgot to post my results here.  As I am looking to get back into Human Computer Interaction regarding Linux I thought I would share the paper with you.  Bear in mind this is a little old (2007) and I was still in college so the literature review is fairly small.  However, I think the results still have some merit.

Abstract:

Gauging the interaction between a piece of technology and the user is of critical importance for engineers and developers.  This experiment compared the usability and appeal of a 2D versus 3D Linux desktop.  A within-subjects design was used which allowed participants to experience both the 2D and 3D desktop as well as two different task sets.  No significant difference was found when examining the length of time it took participants to complete the tasks for each desktop.  Participants preferred the 3D desktop over the 2D desktop only if they experienced the 2D desktop first.  This difference in preference can be explained through cognitive load.

Download:

http://www.cs.iastate.edu/~carlsonp/psych_paper.pdf

Enjoy.

-Patrick Carlson