kde-usability FAQ
James Richard Tyrer
tyrerj at acm.org
Thu Mar 16 09:27:04 CET 2006
Scott Wheeler wrote:
> I talked some to Celeste about coming up with a FAQ for the, uhh, louder list.
> This is a rough draft. It's pretty bad, but well, I'm not a usability person
> -- I just wanted to get things going. Please send corrections / additions
> and I'll merge them in.
>
> It's probably easier to read at:
>
> http://developer.kde.org/~wheeler/kde-usability-faq.html
>
> -Scott
>
> ===
>
> * What is software usability?
>
> Wikipedia says:
>
> Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a
> particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular
> goal. Usability can also refer to the methods of measuring usability and the
> study of the principles behind an object's perceived efficiency or elegance.
>
> Usability is closely related to the fields of industrial psychology and
> ergonimics. There is a wide body of literature on software usability as well
> as a number of established methods for evaluating usability and generally
> working on user-centric design.
>
> Ellen Reitmayr, of the KDE Usability project, recently did a chronological
> outline of some of the standard steps in usability evaluation:
>
> [this chart just won't work here -- see the html page]
>
> For already released software starting in the last column is common. For
> working to become integrated within the development of a project it is more
> useful to take note of the full spectrum of usability methods.
>
> * What is software usability not?
>
> Software usability is not graphic design or making things visually attractive.
> It's also not about personal opinions or first reactions to an interface.
> In the context of the usability list, it's important to note that software
> usability is not about making ad hoc suggestions to the KDE usability or
> development communities. The purpose of the list is to provide a place for
> discussion of usability, as defined above, interaction design, usability
> reports and so on.
>
> Those wishing to simply provide feedback should do so via the bug tracking
> system.
>
> * How do I report a usability issue?
>
> There are two broad ways of answering this question. The basic options are:
>
> - File a bug via bugs.kde.org
> - Do a usability report
>
> The first option is quite straightforward -- simply sign into bugs.kde.org and
> report the issue. Remember to keep in mind things like user context (i.e.
> what is the user doing or trying to do when the problem occurs?), screenshots
> can also be very helpful.
>
> The second option is more involved, but also often much more helpful. It
> assumes some familiarity with usability methods (which you can find out more
> about in the section below on Where can I learn more about usability?).
> Usually these reports incorporate and document the use of the methods
> mentioned above in the What is usability? section.
Perhaps you should make clear exactly what people should do with these
usability reports.
> A good example of employing these methods is available here. There are other
> reports available from the OpenUsability website, which works closely with
> the KDE Usability project.
>
> * What is appropriate for the usability list? What is the purpose of the list?
Unfortunately, I doubt that, at this point in time, establishing a
purpose for the list is going to fix the problem. I'm not saying that
this is the way it should be, only that lists tend to wind up with a de
facto purpose and there is little that can be done to change it.
> As mentioned above, the purpsoe of the list is for discussing usability. This
> is not tantamount to posting percieved problems with interfaces, consistancy,
> etc. Posts which are of that nature will be redirected to bugs.kde.org.
I'm not sure that this is a good idea. I see bugs on KDE's Bugzilla
that become horrendously long to the point that they become useless.
Moving the problem isn't going to solve it unless it is moved to a
suitable place.
> It is on topic to ask further questions about the methods above. One of the
> goals of the list, in addition to having constructive discussion on usability
> topics is to help promote general familiarity with usability and related
> practices. Generally, however, such requests for information should be kept
> separate from critiques.
>
> * Where can I learn more about usability?
>
> We're glad you asked. There are a number of useful links and publications on
> software usability and closely related fields:
>
> Books:
> - The Design of Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman
> - Usability Engineering - Jakob Nielsen
> - The Inmates Are Running the Asylum - Alan Cooper
> - ...
> Publications:
> - ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
Probably a little technical for most people. Perhaps the bi-monthly
magazine: "Interactions" would also be a good suggestion.
The IEEE also publishes a lot of stuff but, again, much of it is in
"Transactions" journals.
> ...
>
> Online Resources:
> - OpenUsability
> - Tina Trillitzsch's Introductions to Personas (Blog 1) (Blog 2) (Slides)
> - Ellen Reitmayr's Presentation on Usability in OSS (German)
> - ...
>
> Additionaly, if you are in a university or professional training program there
> are often courses on iteraction design, human computer interaction,
> ergonomics, etc. If available, these courses can help introduce one to the
> theory behind software usability.
>
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