[dot] Q & A About The KDE Usability Project

[Dot Stories]

URL: http://dot.kde.org/1141152947/

From: Celeste Lyn Paul <celeste at kde.org>
Dept: making-KDE-better-for-everyone dept.
Date: Tuesday 28/Feb/2006, @10:55

Q &amp; A About The KDE Usability Project
=========================================

   The KDE Usability Project reports
[http://usability.kde.org/activity/reports/2005reports.php] I posted
last week received a lot of feedback.  There were several motivations
for posting the reports, and I think it was a success.  They are a
useful reference for developers and other usability specialists as well
as provides a public appearance for what the project does.

     Some of the feedback included questions about the project and
reports so as webmaster of Usability.KDE.org [http://usability.kde.org/]
and a project representative, let me answer some of these for you.

     A few questions which have come up include variations of:

    * Is this all the (or kind of) work the project has produced over
      the past year?
    * How does an application get submitted to the project for review?
    * How can I get a report posted on the KDE Usability website?
    * What is the separation (or difference) between the KDE Usability
      Project and OpenUsability?

     So, as webmaster of usability.kde.org [http://usability.kde.org/]
and a project representative, let me answer some of these questions for
you.

     Is this all the (or kind of) work the project has produced over the
past year?

     No, and this is a two part answer.

 This just happens to be a collection of reports which were sent to me
to be linked on the website.  I have not excluded any reports sent to
me, however I do expect any reports sent to me to be professionally
executed, written and complete.  There is no formal submission process
to who and what gets reviewed or tested, and the list of reports is not
a complete archive of what we have produced. Reports of usability tests
are not the only type of work the project does.  A lot of our work
involves talking and working with developers during the development
lifecycle and not just testing/reviewing a project after it has been
released.  Often, this is where the majority of our participation lies;
working with the developers and not reporting to them after the software
is built.  We also discuss solutions to current Qt implementation
problems which could effect usability (and accessibility), are working
on human interface guidelines (HIG) for KDE4, and a whole slew of other
things.
     How does an application get submitted to the project for review?

     There isn't really a 'submission' process.  In our neverending
quest for better KDE usability, we often discuss projects, submit bugs,
and contact developers when we find something which poses a problem to
users.  Sometimes a project or developer will request a feature or menu
be reviewed with recommendations on how to fix it and an interested
usability specialist will look in to it.  Overall, some projects (and
developers) are just more interested and involved in usability and those
are the projects we typically work with the most.

     OSS usability is very different than industry which is what makes
it so special.  The relationship between the project/developers and the
usability specialists is very important, and often make or break key
usability improvements in a software.

     How can I get a report posted on the KDE Usability website?

     Send it to me! [ celeste aat kde doot org]  You do not have to be
involved in the KDE Usability Project to submit a report (although it
helps to know the project).  I ask that it is indeed a KDE application
(and not other software which happens to be installed with a shortcut in
the KMenu), is professionally executed and written, and completed within
the past year (2005+).

     Also, if you do have a report it is always a good idea to contact
the project and provide them with the report than let them accidently
find it on our website first.

     What is the separation (or difference) between the KDE Usability
Project and OpenUsability?

     The KDE Usability Project is part of the KDE e.V.
[http://ev.kde.org/] which is concerned with only KDE usability. 
OpenUsability.org [http://www.openusability.org/] e.V. is a completely
separate entity which is involved in any project who is interested in
usability.  There just happens to be people who are very involved and
active in both projects.