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Usability Testing Hardy Heron With a Girlfriend

Posted by kdawson on Mon Apr 28, 2008 08:07 AM
from the sleeping-on-the-couch-tonight dept.
Software Linux
toomin writes "Reviews of the latest Ubuntu version, 8.04 Hardy Heron, are everywhere, but most of them are undertaken by geeks familiar with Linux. This guy sits his girlfriend down at a brand-new Ubuntu installation and asks her to perform some basic tasks. Some of them are surprisingly easy, others frustrate and annoy. There are lots of little usability tweaks he stumbles upon just by seeing the desktop experience from the point of view of the mainstream user."
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Firehose:Is Hardy Heron usable enough for a girlfriend? by toomin (793701)
[+] gNewSense Distro Frees Ubuntu 306 comments
Linux.com (who shares corporate overlords with Slashdot) is reporting that gNewSense has gone 2.0. For the uninitiated gNewSense is a stripped down version of Ubuntu's Hardy Heron for the free software purist. Removing over 100 pieces of proprietary code and firmware, gNewSense offers a user the ability to run an OS where everything is able to be studied, changed, and redistributed. "gNewSense is a great alternative to Gobuntu, the Canonical-sponsored free derivative of Ubuntu. According to its wiki page, the 8.04 version of Gobuntu hasn't been released due to a less-than-optimal reaction from the community. Gobuntu used the same repositories as Ubuntu, and the Ubuntu live CD can achieve the same installation as Gobuntu by merely selecting the free-software-only option in the installer (press F6 twice at the boot menu). Also, Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu, has indicated that he would rather focus on gNewSense because the work on that distribution can help the Ubuntu community as a whole. "
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  • I call Shenanigans!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 28 2008, @08:10AM (#23222048)
    A Linux geek with a girlfriend?? Yeah right!

  • He does what with his girlfriend ? (Score:5, Funny)

    by BattleCat (244240) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:11AM (#23222058)
    Something is surely wrong, when instead of fscking her right proper he sits her down with Ubuntu...

  • Smart move (Score:5, Insightful)

    by caution live frogs (1196367) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:11AM (#23222064)
    That's how user testing should be done. It is really much too difficult for someone familiar with the program or OS to see what is not obvious or confusing to a novice user. The people that program the UI don't always think like a user - they usually think like a programmer, and that doesn't always work.

    • Re:Smart move (Score:5, Interesting)

      by MMC Monster (602931) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:39AM (#23222322)
      I agree. I expected this article to be a little silly, but it was well thought out.

      The new user was given a bunch of common tasks (play some music, draw a picture, play a video on youtube, use an instant messenger on MSN network, install a commonly used application (skype), edit a photo) and asked to perform them on a default installation of Ubuntu.

      Well done. The Ubuntu team (and other linux distributions) can learn a lot from this article alone. Hopefully it will give a target for other usability testing in the future.

      (And, no, I have nothing to do with the article author or website.)

    • Re:Smart move (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Bombula (670389) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:41AM (#23222336)
      What is positively astonishing is how persistent this problem is. Look back at the thousands of linux threads over the last 10 years, and you will see the SAME complaint again and again, and again. And again. And AGAIN. It is farking ridiculous.

      How hard is it to sit down and run a simple test like the (excellent) one this guy did with his girlfriend for every release?

      To Ubtunu's credit, most of the fault lies with the applications and not with the OS itself. Well-designed apps like Skype make things simple and intuitive for new users. But Ubuntu itself could develop specs for developers that required basic intros, wizards, etc for introducing and explaining the simple but non-obvious stuff to new users. Conversion rates would then skyrocket.

      Again, there is no logical reason why this hasn't been implemented before. The only explanation is therefore stupidity on the part of the developers - both on the OS and the app side. Cue the irony tag, given how clever most of these folks like to think they are. I guess what it shows is that being a math jock or code monkey with a stratospheric IQ doesn't make you a good UI designer any more than it makes you a suave and charming socialite.

  • Yeah, right. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Aaron Isotton (958761) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:12AM (#23222068)
    In other news, man tests usability of Duke Nukem Forever running on GNU Hurd by making his GIRLFRIEND play it.
  • 1) Use internet. Successful.
    2) Watch youtube. Unsuccessful. No Flash.
    3) Use torrent. Successful (but this is not a novice user task)
    4) Draw pic. 1/2 Successful. Chose wrong tool.
    5) Burn music. Unsuccessful
    6) Mouse speed change. Successful.
    7) Theme change. Successful.
    8) Desktop background change. Successful.
    9) Scree resolution change. Unsuccessful.
    10) Advanced image manipulation. Successful
    11) MSN. Unsuccessful
    12) Install & Use skype. Successful.

    Note, the problem with 5) burning music was not the actual burning, but finding the mp3s on a windows partition.

    So, 8/12. (maybe 9.5/12)

    To be honest, I've seen experience computer users have more trouble doing the above tasks when switching from windows to OS X.

    Kudos to Ubuntu.

    • Re:Exceptionally good. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by 4D6963 (933028) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:27AM (#23222232) Homepage Journal

      2) Watch youtube. Unsuccessful. No Flash.
      11) MSN. Unsuccessful

      Yeah well, I have a girlfriend too, and all she ever does on a computer is watch music videos on YouTube, write e-mails and chat on MSN. Maybe you'd like to weight your rating based on how important something is to the person tested (by asking them). Downloading a torrent and changing your mouse speed will probably rate to 0 while MSN will probably rate to "Why the hell would I need a computer if not for MSN?".

      • Yeah well, I have a girlfriend too, and all she ever does on a computer is watch music videos on YouTube, write e-mails and chat on MSN

        And how well do you think your girlfriend would go on a vanilla windows install with no flash installed, MSN account not setup, etc?

        If the article's author had setup flash / pidgin / explained the difference between GIMP & Open Office draw, his girlfriend would have had few problems.

        I'd suggest to you (honestly) - that if all your gf really does is youtube, mail & chat, then she'd be much better off on Ubuntu than windows.

      • Re:Exceptionally good. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by grm_wnr (781219) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:41AM (#23222340)
        >she should have read the release notes

        Ahaha, good one. I thought the very point of this exercise was that users do not behave like developers expect or would like them to. Reading release notes is certainly among the things they rarely ever do, and so this hints at Ubuntu doing something wrong more than anything else.

  • Girlfriend? (Score:5, Funny)

    by angryfirelord (1082111) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:17AM (#23222116)
    This is slashdot! I don't have a girlfriend, you insensitive clod!

  • Arr matey. (Score:5, Funny)

    by grm_wnr (781219) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:17AM (#23222118)
    I laughed heartily at the fact that a common user scenario includes how to torrent a Spice Girls album. Not that I think that's not the case; it was just pretty refreshing to see how blatant this guy is about it.

  • ports... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anoraknid the Sartor (9334) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:20AM (#23222152) Homepage
    Where do I get this "with a girlfriend" release? .. of course with my luck, the "girlfriend" will be the openbsd version, and ship with all ports closed by default.

  • Interesting (Score:5, Interesting)

    by chuckymonkey (1059244) <.moc.liamg. .ta. .notrub.d.selrahc.> on Monday April 28 2008, @08:24AM (#23222186) Journal
    That's pretty interesting. On a tangentially related note, a guy I work with just install Ubuntu as his first linux. A friend and I were talking about 8.04 and he overheard us, so he walked up and started asking questions about it which we answered. The next day he shows up to work and says that he installed it and is really liking it. What is this world coming to when a normal guy one day hears about linux and the next successfully installs it without asking the local nerds for help? It was really interesting, he said the hardest thing was burning the ISO, other than that he said it was easier to use and set up than windows. Trust me when I say that this guy is very very average when it comes to computer smarts, this was a huge leap for him and it was no trouble at all. That's how I know linux is heading mainstream.

    • Re:Interesting (Score:5, Insightful)

      by nkh (750837) <nkh AT interlol DOT net> on Monday April 28 2008, @08:45AM (#23222402) Homepage Journal
      I can confirm that this is a rather strange world we're living in. My wife wants to switch to Ubuntu (and thus wiping Windows XP from her computer) because of some reasons I had not expected (from my point of view as a hardcore developer):
      • Frozen Bubble is available on Linux, as well as a lot of good games
      • Less viruses than XP, and so no need for an anti-virus
      • Firefox and "MSN" chat are available on Linux
      • Free IT support when I'm available at home
      I know that it may seem redundant but computer noobs switch for very strange reasons and we must listen to their needs if we want Linux to "succeed on the desktop."

  • Test using Kubuntu? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Danathar (267989) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:46AM (#23222414) Journal
    I'd like to see the same test with Kubuntu. Not saying that it's better but I'd like to see the results with KDE as well.

  • It's a fine line... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JustinOpinion (1246824) on Monday April 28 2008, @08:51AM (#23222484)
    The article several times suggests that the solution to some of these problems is, essentially, user education: having balloons that signal "new item installed" or wizards open the first time you launch a program, telling you how the program works.

    The problem is that this approach often doesn't work. For one thing, it annoys the piss out of experience users. For another thing, new users tend to ignore most of that information... mainly because they are being overwhelmed by new information and can't possibly assimilate it all.

    Take, for instance, the problem that was encountered when changing screen resolution. The tester changed the resolution easily, but then she clicked the "Keep settings" immediately, which locked her into graphic settings that were hard to change back. Part of the problem, I suppose is that the system allowed the user to make a ridiculous change. But part of the problem is also, perhaps, that the user is very used to clicking "OK" on any dialog that gets in the way: there are too many new things to read and learn, and the easiest way to get things done (in the mind of a new user) is to dismiss those annoying boxes as quickly as possible. Would a second popup, that described in detail why this low resolution was a bad idea (and how to undo it when desired), have changed anything? Doubtful. Most users would just click "OK" without reading it.

    All this to say that I'm by no means convinced that adding more balloons, wizards, and dialog boxes will magically make it easier for users to figure out what's going on. I don't know what the solution is: usability is a tough problem. There is a place for helpful information (balloons, tool-tips, etc.), reminders, and wizards. But too much of this becomes decidedly counter-productive.

        • Re:Window Size complaint. (Score:5, Interesting)

          by CastrTroy (595695) on Monday April 28 2008, @09:11AM (#23222710) Homepage
          At least in Linux you could boot up into command line mode and edit your xorg.conf file to change the resolution. Say what you want about the command line and editing the config file, and how users shouldn't have to do it, but at least the option is available. Any idea if the same can be done under windows? It's the same reason why so many forums are filled with directions on how to accomplish stuff over the command line. Sure it's a little more difficult than clicking around in a GUI. But it's much more likely to work across different distros and different versions of the same distro.

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