| Novell aims usability research at "better" Linux desktop |
Oct. 10, 2005
Novell Inc. Monday introduced its Better Desktop initiative, a new component of the OpenSUSE project that provides open source developers with usability testing data and resources aimed at making Linux desktop applications a more comfortable fit for users.
The material includes more than 200 video clips of Linux users bumbling their way through unfamiliar computer interfaces, Greg Mancusi-Ungaro, Novell's director of marketing for Linux and open source products told Ziff Davis Internet. This primary research, focused on desktop usage, should prove valuable to Linux application developers, he added.
The videos, downloadable in Mpeg or Theora formats, range anywhere from four minutes to two hours in length and show men and woman ages 18 to 70 using Mozilla Firefox, Evolution, Open Office, Banshee, F-Spot and other applications.
Users are shown trying to do such simple tasks as creating an account on a computer for a friend, sending a birthday reminder to the calendar, changing the fonts on a document, or changing the wallpaper.
Developers 'know too much'
"Application developers know too much about what they're doing when they design software," Mancusi-Ungaro explained. "There's no way they can look at what they've built through the eyes of someone who's never seen it before."
Mancusi-Ungaro said the user's PC experience is made up of hundreds of small decisions, and that often they get sidetracked making those decisions. The Better Desktop program is aimed at helping developers "get the small chores right," he said.
"We have a ton of really valuable material -- a treasure trove, really -- that will help GUI designers save a lot of time and effort," Mancusi-Ungaro said. "These are eye-opening, a lot of them. You can see people really getting lost when they're trying to figure something out, but can't. They get up and walk around, look around and get frustrated -- like we all do once in a while."
Up until now, there was really no way for designers to get hold of videos like these without spending a lot of money having the research done, Mancusi-Ungaro said.
"As a programmer, it's sometimes difficult to know how ordinary people with no technical experience are reacting to your software," said Nat Friedman, vice president of collaboration and desktop engineering for Novell. "Linux people tend to know other Linux people. In these usability tests, we selected test subjects who were experienced with Windows, but who had never heard of Linux, and asked them to perform basic tasks using the Linux desktop.
"We expect that developers from a variety of projects will come to Better Desktop.org and review these results to see firsthand how they can improve the design of different applications, desktops and distributions. Ultimately, improved usability will help Linux succeed on the desktop."
No registration necessary
The videos are freely downloadable here. Developers do not have to register at OpenSUSE.org or BetterDesktop.org in order to download and view the videos, Mancusi-Ungaro told Ziff Davis Internet.
"This isn't designed just for OpenSUSE projects," he said. "This information can be used for developing for any platform. We just want this to help make Linux in general more intuitive on the desktop."
"This is a valuable contribution to the Linux community that will help open source developers benefit from Novell's research to create a better, more user-friendly desktop," said Gary Barnett, research director at technology consultants Ovum. "Usability is a key requirement in order to drive the Linux desktop into the mainstream. This ... will help break down some of the barriers to mainstream Linux adoption on the desktop."
"Novell's Linux desktop usability test results represent a significant addition to the resources available to open source developers who are working to enhance the Linux desktop," said Jan Muehlig, founder of OpenUsability.org, an open source designers' community site.
Mancusi-Ungaro told Ziff Davis Internet that since OpenSUSE.org was announced at LinuxWorld in August, more than 7,500 developers have registered and over 30,000 installs of the open source operating system have been recorded.
If you found this eWEEK.com article by Chris Preimesberger informative, be sure to check out eWEEK.com's Linux & Open Source Center for the latest open-source news, reviews, and analysis.
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