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-----Original Message-----
From: sigia-l-admin at asis.org [mailto:sigia-l-admin at asis.org] On Behalf =
Of
Listera
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2004 12:25 AM
To: SIGIA-L
Subject: [Sigia-l] Open Source Usability -- curable?

Open source usability is a technical problem we can solve on our own
<http://tinyurl.com/467vg>

> Poor usability is a huge barrier to wider open source adoption. Our
backends
> have matured and we consistently achieve technical excellence. =
Usability
is
> the one area we have not yet mastered. For some reason, we treat it as =
a
> mystery instead of looking at it as a problem we can solve the same =
way we
> solve all other technical problems.

True?

> Even if we decide to rely on outside experts to solve our usability
problems,
> they are going to find it impossible to keep up with us. The KDE =
project
alone
> has an average of 200 checkins to its code repository each day. There
aren't
> enough outside usability specialists available to correct all the =
errors
that
> are inevitable with this level of productivity.

Is this the way usability issue can/should be solved?

> When usability, central to everything in today's software, is =
outsourced
to
> companies, the open source community's independence and opportunity to
achieve
> its noble goal is compromised.

True?

> Usability Reports" sounds like a possible solution, but somehow, when
> usability issues are encountered, open source people seem to conclude =
with
a
> deep sigh that they cannot be solved since we don't have the resources =
to
> study usability properly. But we don't need formal studies. We simply =
need
to
> apply our own problem-solving skills.

Sufficient?

> We don't need usability reports. We need each developer to devote as
little as
> one single thought to usability.

True?

> But If I want to learn how to write phrases understandable by users or
what
> colors to use that still allow color-blind people to use my software =
or
how to
> best name categories for efficient navigation, I can do nothing but =
listen
to
> people's opinions in the matter. Where is the open source community's =
pool
of
> facts and knowledge covering usability issues?

Is this what's needed?

> Our community has little experience in usability and designing =
graphical
user
> interfaces, and the way we approach these matters today gives us no =
chance
to
> teach ourselves. No wonder the result screams for improvement, our
discussions
> are nothing but rants, and we leave the mysterious problem to the =
Almighty
> Gods of Usability: The Experts.

Good or bad?

> We need to build our own pool of knowledge in the usability field. We =
need
> online books about usability, published under open source licenses. We
need
> HOWTOs, interviews with project managers, and articles discussing,
questioning
> and driving usability. Then we will be able to work on our problems, =
since
> once we have the base knowledge, usability will be revealed as the
engineering
> science it is.=20

Is usability and "engineering science"?

> Then our usability discussions will no longer be long anecdotes and
personal
> opinions, but will become problem-oriented, and will be discussed in =
terms
of
> right and wrong.

Would that be the end of "It depends"? :-)

Just reporting.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba=20

P.S. If you're in fact interested in this subject be sure to read the
comments too, below the article.



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