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Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

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Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#61

Post by nuclear_eclipse »

andybak wrote: post #58
hesselink wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the Windows key on Windows keyboards, and the Cmd key on Mac keyboards.

Why invent a new bit of jargon then? Where does this get explained to people (bearing in mind users don't read! The solution is to call it the Windows key as 95%+ of Ubuntu users will know it as that and have a Windows keyboard.

It's not really "invented" so much as having been called the "super" key for a long time by Unix convention, and having been adopted by Microsoft to become the Windows key where it actually showed up on consumer keyboards. If you look at a classic Solaris keyboard for example, you'll find four classic modifier keys: control, alt, meta, and super.

Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#62

Post by pbhjpbhj »

hasenj wrote: post #25

Here's what I think should happen before final release: - Make the launcher always on by default - Remove the recycle bin icon (I really don't get the point of it) - Remove the applications icon (redundant with the Ubuntu button). Perhaps add a "System" lense view instead (system settings and all that). - Add an "expose" icon (super-w). And perhaps hide the workspaces icon by default.

>"- Remove the recycle bin icon (I really don't get the point of it)"

Is it so you can find docs that you "deleted" by accident?

Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#63

Post by mitko »

On the other hand this testing doesn't include any other ubuntu user. Of course you'll have some learnability gap. I see also a lot of windows people having trouble to figure out in their first few hours in OS X. While Unity definitely needs some polish, it already makes it more efficient to manage my desktop experience on my netbook running Ubuntu. The guys at Cannonical are trying to do major innovation and provide some consistency with the old UI.

Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#65

Post by jberryman »

andybak wrote: post #57
dkarl wrote: post #29

Nobody understood Ubuntu One. 4/11 people (P7, P9, P11, P12) thought the Me menu icon might be a close button With silly corporate-ad-campaign-flavored names like "One" and "Me" it's no wonder.

Hear hear! Almost every company tries to inflict crap like this on users at some stage. It's a prime case of marketing trumping all other factors.

Imagine my delight trying to do some testing on VMware products for the first time yesterday, and trying to navigate this maze of meaningless names:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VMware#Products

Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#66

Post by Symmetry »

Legion wrote: post #11

> P7 and P11 thought that "LibreOffice Calc" was a calculator "Calc" is just not a smart name for a spreadsheet application. > and P7 and P9 thought Ubuntu Software Center was the Recycle Bin. I understand that, because that is what the icon looks like.

I wonder if a shopping cart would be less ambiguous? This looks like one of those cultural issues that's hard to get right everywhere, though.

Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#67

Post by travisp »

vessenes wrote: post #22

This was my favorite -- DESIGNERS, THIS IS WHAT AD BLINDNESS LOOKS LIKE IN AN APP: Don't design stuff like this in, people don't notice it anymore. " Only 2/6 noticed an XChat Gnome notification, despite (1) a notification bubble appearing, (2) the Ubuntu button going blue, (3) the messaging menu envelope going blue, and (4) an emblem appearing on XChat Gnome's launcher. "

As a non-typical user with two large monitors, I never notice gnome notifications. They're small and often on the monitor I'm not looking at.

Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#68

Post by emehrkay »

rubergly wrote: post #6

I wonder: 11 people seems like a rather small sample size; does Canonical typically do any testing with larger samples? I'm surprised that only 5/10 people tried to open another Firefox window by clicking the launcher icon. Personally, I think clicking the launcher icon not opening a new window is silly, but that's because I'm used to Windows 7 and not OSX.

This article made me want to try out the new Ubuntu in a vm. I am looking for a download as I type.

I absolutely HATE the fact that when I click an running application's icon in the taskbar in Windows 7 it only sometimes makes that application active. If the app has multiple windows (sometimes tabs) open, it shows a list for me to choose from. That sucks as it requires more clicks, just show the last used window on click of the taskbar icon,on hover show that list of open windows/tabs. OS X got this right (even though they make all of the windows/tabs for the app come to the front).

Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#69

Post by Terretta »

SpookyAction wrote: post #51
Prolorn wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has "Numbers", which seems as good a name for a spreadsheet program as any, to me.

I don't see how "Numbers" is any more intuitive than "Calc", not that Calc is really a good name for a spreadsheet application, but at least it makes sense. Spreadsheets do calculate things, it's just the name collision with the Windows app calc and the fact most people associate calculating with, well a calculator. Calc may be a poor name for a spreadsheet app but Numbers is definitely worse.

> I don't see how "Numbers" is any more intuitive than "Calc"

In an office, ask a bookkeeper, sales manager, whomever, "Hey, show me the numbers!", and you're going to see a spreadsheet. If you ask, "Hey, show me the calc!", you'll get a blank look.

Evidence suggests "Numbers" is a perfectly cromulent word.

Re: Ubuntu Unity usability testing results and analysis

#70

Post by Terretta »

jerf wrote: post #27
kemayo wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jakob Nielsen does suggest [1] that only 5 users will get you about 80% of the problems in your software, and 15 will get you damn-near-everything. So 11 is pretty good. [1] http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000319.html

Also, if you do have the resources to do, say, 100 user tests, you actually actively don't want to do them all at the same time or it will be a waste because they will all say the same thing. If anything, this was over tested. There's a lot of redundancy in those results, just as Nielsen would predict. This is not a scientific experiment to determine the effect of a drug, and you do not always need or even necessaril…

There's a lot of redundancy in those results

Helps so devs can't reply, "Well, that guy was just stupid".

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