[Sigia-l] Salt in Sugar?

[Ziya Oz]

I had posted about the Sugar UI of the upcoming $150 OLPC machine destined
for 100 million kids in developing countries. Someone emailed me off-list
over the holidays and asked if I had any info on usability studies done on
the UI, which is neither Windows nor Mac (or like any other existing WIMP
for that matter).

Now, I had read that it was done at Red Hat, which has no consumer-level OS
UI design experience, let alone one targeting children. But I assumed a
completely new and unconventional OS design would be done with extensive
user testing. Then I read this:


Wayan Vota, who launched the OLPCNews.com blog to monitor the project's
development because he is skeptical it can achieve its aims, called Sugar
"amazing ‹ a beautiful redesign."

"It doesn't feel like Linux. It doesn't feel like Windows. It doesn't feel
like Apple," said Vota, who is director of Geekcorps, an organization that
facilitates technology volunteers in developing countries. He emphasized
that his opinions were his own and not on behalf of Geekcorps.

"I'm just impressed they built a new (user interface) that is different and
hopefully better than anything we have today," he said. But he added:
"Granted, I'm not a child. I don't know if it's going to be intuitive to
children."

Indeed, the XO machines are still being tweaked, and SUGAR ISN'T EXPECTED TO
BE TESTED BY ANY KIDS UNTIL FEBRUARY. By July or so, several million are
expected to reach Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan,
Thailand and the Palestinian territory...

<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061231/ap_on_hi_te/hundred_dollar_laptop>

If this is true, I'm flabbergasted. Does anyone know if they actually
designed a new OS for 100 million users *without* testing it on children?

----
Ziya

Complicated interfaces happen
when you don't have the will to create simpler ones.