Translated KDE/Linux Usability Report Available 424
WHudson writes "Relevantive AG, a German consulting firm who recently completed a study on Linux usability, posted their results in English translation today. Bottom line: Linux nearly as easy to use as Windows XP, but the wording of system and program messages could use some more clarity."
Error Message (Score:5, Interesting)
Nice note (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Error Message (Score:3, Interesting)
That is also my experience. If I have a problem with Linux, it gives me all the messages and tools I need to find the exact cause of the problem. With Windows I often have to give up, because it refuse to tell me, what I need to know. Knowing what the problem is, is the first major step towards solving it.
Coming Back (Score:1, Interesting)
Being somewhat stunned by how easily I had forsaken linux for windows, I decided just today to change my situation. Being disallusioned with both Debian and RH, I am installing slackware right now. If that lets me down, I have FreeBSD ready to install also.
Windows does not really fail me, I actually get more work done on Windows 2000 ( I do web development and graphics, no games and no MS Office )than I ever did on Linux, but it certainly does bore me. I guess I miss tinkering with the systems more than anything, and I also miss Fluxbox!
Wish me luck, maybe I will be able to give Linux tips to friends once again with my head held high. It kind of sucks to say "Well, I only run windows now but the file you are looking for is in /etc/hosts" when you do not even run linux anymore.
Here is hoping I can rejoin the ranks of geeks, don't let me down Slack!
I use both (Score:1, Interesting)
There are just too many bugs. Using Redhat9 to connect to an NT4 share via Samba is buggy as hell. The first connection works great. After that I practically have to reboot to get back into the share again. I find that very user unfriendly. New users are mainly turned away when they can't even figure out how to install an app. I was really confused when I first started. I could download to my home directory & make a new folder to put it in, had to spend 15 minutes looking up how to unzip it with tar (man tar made it sound like it was only used for tape backups), went to the folder and stared blankly and the directory listing. It turned out I was supposed to know you have to type:
make
make depend
make install
OK did that....where the hell is it?
It's a long and rocky road to learn *nix and unfortunately
Re:usable but not the same (Score:5, Interesting)
He merely said that people are used to Windows and thus they have a harder time learning to use KDE than someone who'd never been exposed to either. I'm not sure how you managed to interpret that as a pro-MS comment...
And considering that OSS is supposed to be everyone working for the general good, it could be considered communist in nature... communism isn't necessarily a bad thing, ya know.
Re:I use both (Score:3, Interesting)
Sure, it can be done, but you really shouldn't complain when it doesn't fit your needs out of the box and needs tweaking.
There is a good reason KDE/SuSE and not Gnome/Redhat was tested in the usability report.
At what cost? (Score:2, Interesting)
easier for the desktop user, you also make it harder
for the people in other categories. Our needs are
not the same, therefore, the remedy can never
be the same.
The question is not whether we should accomodate
new users, the question is what costs and
inconvenienses are we willing to endure in
order to accomodate the newbies. And I don't
particularly care if new uers move to Linux, I would
rather not accomodate them at all. It is a
non-issue for me.
Report on user types; interesting. (Score:3, Interesting)
They categorized users based upon their performance in the tasks. Starting from page 74, I found some of the attributes and observations for each category to be interesting:
All observations are quoted directly from the report, but have been consolidated from multiple pages (74-77)
1. Group: Inexperienced performers
- They cannot mentally differentiate between OS, desktop environment and application.
- They are goal orientated and not interested in understand (sic) how they get there ("Now it is working").
- In order to place an application icon (Acrobat Reader) in the desktop bar at the bottom, they were looking for this option within the application itself (and did not succeed). This was the case for 21 of the 60 Linux test participants.
- They left an application open and tried to perform all further tasks within this application. For instance, they created a new folder using the file dialog of the word processor.
- They were confused by a high number of options and tried to find a familiar option from which they could start exploring the others.
2. Group: Experienced performers
- They are interested in understanding how something works.
- They consider themselves to be the cause of an error, not the computer.
- Due to their impatient navigation, they did not see some (sometimes important or helpful) options. Also, they could hardly see the tooltips since they moved the mouse too quickly before the tooltip had been displayed.
- If an action did not show an immediate result, they went onto another way and only came back much later to the initial action. Hence, this group needed to have the network folder displayed for quite a long time as they clicked somewhere else before the folder content was updated and displayed.
3. Group: Professional performers
- They plan their steps by their assumptions of the potential ways that the systems may offer.
- They can identify the "errors" or "inadequacies" of the system.
- They had problems especially when they did not expect a certain system behavior. This could be observed e.g. in Windows XP when they tried to write a file on a CD, since this function is integrated into Windows Explorer, while those users expected a stand-alone application.
Re:English Summary (Score:2, Interesting)
Most businesses are trying to avoid this type of behaviour from their employees anyways, whether with Windows or Linux. It is not a good idea to have all users install different software onto each computer, it is chaotic and downirght dangerous.
Now, you can configure WinXP so that only the admins an install anything, but really fine-tuning an XP is not as easy as it might seem - probably because hardly anyone does it.
So the linux approach that only athorized people can install new programs makes sense. Yeah, it might be a little annoying for the employee who cannot get his program installed just by clicking on it; but it does make sense that the IT people who are responsible for the maintenance and security of those systems are the ones who have the final say of whether a certain programme is to be installed or not.
On the other hand, the only users who are likely to try to install all types of crap onto their computers are those who think they are computer gods just because they have one at home and are able to surft the Internet and download music. And those users can end up being really dangerous, for they think they know much more than they really do. It is the ignorant users who really are no threat at all, for they will always ask before attempting to do anything.
And if installs are only done by competent people, it follows that they probably know how to do it (whether that is compiling from scratch or downloading a package for whatever distro they're using), so it shouldn't be very difficult. Not that it actually is difficult, you just need to know what you are doing.
Windows is harder to install (Score:1, Interesting)
Then I gave her a Mandrake 8.x CD (I don't reacll which of the 8 releases it was). She fed it into the drive, rebooted, followed the prompts, and 30 minutes later everything was installed. The apropriate drivers had been loaded, everything was configured, the machine was ready to run. This on the same hw that had taken six times more time and had needed my help installing windows, she installed MDK Linux by herself.
So, which is harder to install for a newbie?
Re:It's called.. (Score:2, Interesting)
well, no, actually I didn't. And around here (small fragment of a big multinational) it's a part of an application framework...
IMO short labels according to function are better than names. And if there's a choice I'd prefer to see the function first and the app name bracketed second, as
- function (app1)
- function (app2)
By the way, what does iDVD do that iMovie doesn't (and vice versa)?Please mod parent up! (Score:4, Interesting)
The funny thing is that the people who couldn't care less and the people who love computers are now the ideal market for Linux. It's the people who have enough confidence to try to do things they don't know how to do who would struggle!
"Who cares ", asks regular /. reader? (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Bollocks. (Score:4, Interesting)
It's like trying to install a program that was built for WindowsXP, but wasn't meant for Win 98. It may work, but it also may not.
Honestly, I've had more problems getting Windows 98 apps to work with Windows 2000. Grim Fandango was one of them. Dark Age of Camalot was another. Both were incredibly crash-prone because the developers hadn't chosen to support the newer desktops. Win9x emulation mode helped, but didn't totally correct the problem. I've also experienced similar problems getting some CDR software to work on older Windows machines.
You're going to run into these sorts of problems as long as you have changes in your operating system. It's just the way that it goes.
Re:usable but not the same (Score:3, Interesting)
Likewise, the average person moved very nicely. Some complaints, but lots of compliments.
It was the ppl who were running XP pro with Office professional who thought that they were the 2'nd coming of christ right behind bill, who were having problems. Tried moving them to Gnome and that was no better. It came down to the fact that they knew MS inside out and did not want to change in a irrational fashion(think apple zealot) .
Re:usable but not the same (Score:3, Interesting)
Step one towards increasing acceptance of Linux GUI systems is to stop treating the Windows desktop metaphor as if it were pabulum that is only choked down by infants who don't know anymore. The Windows interface may not be perfect, but it's more than usable for the vast majority of the desktop market.
There's no such thing as a "false sense of intuitiveness". The only truly intuitive interface is the nipple ($1 to whoever said that).
Any usability study worth its salt has to take into consideration the subjects' previous experiences. Being different from Windows IS a usability issue to most people who are familiar with Windows.