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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