On Fri, Mar 23, 2007 at 12:36:37AM -0700, Steve Langasek wrote: > On Fri, Mar 23, 2007 at 02:15:51AM -0500, Santiago Ruano Rincón wrote: > > > I'm proposing an idea for the GSoC about Improving the Debian Installer > > Usability[1]. I know the d-i is very good technically, but it must be > > more usable (talking about human factors). > > It's been established that you could install Debian using a drinking bird > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_bird). Why do you claim that d-i > is not "usable"? Frankly, I think that claim is grossly insulting to the > fine work of the debian-installer team, who pay a good deal of attention to > questions of usability. My intention is far from insulting them or their work. I'm sorry if you understand that. > > Or is "human factors" a euphemism for "make it appealing to idiots at the > expense of functionality for the informed", which is what "usability" > usually means in corporate-speak? Why corporate-speak? When I talk about usability and human factors I mean concepts form [1][2] and so on. [1] http://www.useit.com/ [2] http://griho.udl.es/mpiua/index.htm Usability and Accessibility Engineering Process Model (In Spanish only, I didn't found an English version, sorry) If Debian pretends to be the Universal OS, it has a wide range of users as target. Usability and Human Factors are not trivial. > > Obviously, I'm not a fan of open-ended "usability" makeovers. But perhaps > you have some specific reasons for thinking that improvement is needed, that > would make sense once you've shared them? I ran uniformal user tests with 5 Spanish native speakers users some time ago and I found some problems, for example, in the installer's first screen, "Choose language" the list is sorted by the names in English, only one of the users could find Spanish easily, as he had installed debian before, he knew that he should look for its mother tongue in the S, not in the E. The languages list in www.debian.org is more suitable, I think. The screens for configuring the network weren't clear for them, most of the messages about the progress of the install weren't understood, partitioning was very complicated, and I'm sure my friends (the users) aren't stupid. Even, one of the user cried "¡qué trauma!" (What a problem!) at the end of the install process, that was her opinion, not mine. Unfortunatelly, I was working on my pre-degree project, and I didn't have enough time to make the reports and propose changes. I also used to think that usability was for not-"intelligent" and lazy people, but my pre-degree thesis project [3] made change my mind. I worked with a Colombian indigenous group, faw away from the city, they are using computers and I'd like they use debian, but they live in a rural environment and they aren't computer technicians. I want a more suitable and easier OS for them. [3] http://people.debian.org/~santiago/inasac/index.en.html > > > The goal of the idea is to perform an usability analysis (through user > > test and/or any other tools) and propose changes with patches. Maybe, > > very specific objectives could only be established within the process. > > Do you really think that 'user testing' fits under the Google Summer of > /Code/ aegis? (Just asking, I certainly have no vested interest in whether > Google approves such projects, it just seems strange to me that this would > qualify). > I'm not sure, but usability analysis would be the first step in the process, I'm propossing the student has to make patches for the d-i code. > -- > Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS > Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. > vorlon@debian.org http://www.debian.org/ > Best regards, Santiago
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