Re: a little user testing
Am Die, den 06.07.2004 schrieb Nathan Hurst um 7:36:
> Hello,
> I did some simple user testing yesterday using some windows experienced,
> linux newbie people to install debian using the new sarge installer. I
> watched and took notes, but didn't get involved. Here are my results:
I think that you don't say a word about the first stage (before the
reboot) indicates that this stage is fine.
>
> 1) Confusing about real name and user name. After setting up the root
> account the installer asks for a name for a real person's account.
> After this it asks for a username. Some confusion as to why the same
> question was asked twice.
Do you think that the wording of the screen should be improved or is it
the concept of separating realname and username that confused the
users?
>
> 2) because we were installing behind a firewall the installer was unable
> to access security. I suggest something be added to note that this can
> be broken out of using control-C or similar. Alternatively, perhaps the
> user can be asked if they want security updates?
>
> 3) tasksel seem to stump people - you have to discover the help button
> to work out how to drive it. Perhaps display the help first?
tasksel has been rewritten by joey hess. I don't know if the new tasksel
will be included in sarge. The new tasksel uses the same user interface
as the rest of the installer.
>
> 4) installation is slowed down by the fact that you have to serialize
> downloading, unpacking and setting up. Could these be pipelined? We
> are using a loca, fast, private apt-proxy for the installation, yet the
> bulk of the time is still spent waiting for network and unpacking.
>
> 5) the x-server kit failed to detect the NV16 video card, nor would
> setting the driver to nv help (this is probably a bug against Xfree though).
If you have enough information, please submit a bug on xfree86.
>
> 6) one user set the priority to low thinking that was the easiest option
> on an older installer CD. I don't recall seeing that choice in the most
> recent installer though.
The installer automatically takes the priority of the first stage.
>
> 7) general feeling that the installer asked too many questions.
Do you know of any particular question that could be avoided?
>
> 8) tasksel list was too fine grained for languages (the list was hard to
> scroll through), and too coarse grained for everything else. Will
> tasksel be available once the system is installed? If so, it might be
> worth mentioning that users can always install something later.
In the future language tasks should be selected automatically depending
on the choosen installation language.
>
> 9) being in Australia, the timezones list was confusing - we also have
> 'Eastern Standard Time'. Perhaps a less US-centric interface would
> start at the global groups list first? (This may have been set by using
> the 'us-american' option at the begining?)
Probably the installer was to smart. If you select us-american it will
assume that you are located in the US.
>
> These are merely observations, not criticisms - I hope that I've found
> something useful for the projects. I will repeat this testing in future
> when time and bodies permit :)
Thank you for this test. This kind of testing is very useful to improve
the usability of the installation process.
Gaudenz
> njh
>
Reply to: