[Sigia-l] UI for the $150 Laptop (OLPC)

[Celeste 'seele' Paul]

On Monday 27 November 2006 03:05, Ziya Oz wrote:

> I feel ambivalent about critiquing the OLPC UI. They have good intentions
> and I don't have first-hand experience with it, so it's very hard to voice
> all that bothers me.

Considering that would only piss off developers and not really get anything 
done, I wouldnt suggest staging an attack on all their hard work.  If you are 
truly interested in contributing to OLPC, I suggest joining the sugar mailing 
list or getting in contact with some of the developers (sugar at laptop.org).

You have to remember that OLPC works very similarly to the Open Source 
community, and many of the developers and contributors *are* Open Source 
developers.  Rule #1 in Open Source Usability is Dont Go In With Guns 
Blazing.  OSS developers dont appreciate when outsiders come in 
and "critique" their work without making the effort to become intimate with 
the project, and I suspect it is the same way with OLPC.  What works in 
industry only works because there is someone on top who signs all the checks.  
OSS is not industry and the rules are very different.

If interested, read and article myself and Jan Meuligh (of OpenUsability.org) 
wrote for the British HCI magazine Interfaces on this very topic (pp. 18-21):
http://www.bcs-hci.org.uk/interfaces/interfaces66.pdf

>
> Anyone care to render an opinion?

I am actively involved in many Open Source projects, but only recently OLPC.  
If you are looking for something to do, I know a request for a guidelines 
review of AbiWord (one of the applications included in the environment) was 
sent out and would be greatly appreciated.

~ Celeste


-- 
Celeste 'seele' Paul
www.obso1337.org