From: Marcin Bukat <marcin.bukat_at_gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:55:01 +0100

If some usability test procedure will be available I volunteer to make tests
with my ipod mini around (rockboxed of course).
I think that -dev list is the place to speak about usability concerns. It is
much more related to development than to support.

Marcin

2009/11/24 Karl Kurbjun <kkurbjun_at_gmail.com>

>
>
> On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 11:14 AM, Sam Pattuzzi <
> sam.pattuzzi_at_googlemail.com> wrote:
>
>> OK, what I think I will do is conduct a usability test with my family.
>> I'm going to have a go at building a list of most common tasks with
>> Rockbox and share them here before I start. Ideas for these tasks are
>> welcome, I'm thinking along the lines of:
>> * Load music
>> * Play music
>> * As above for podcasts
>> * Save a bookmark
>> * Resume a bookmark
>> * Make a playlist
>> * Should installation be included?
>>
>> One thing I want opinions on before I do that though is, how important
>> is the manual? Should it have been read religiously before touching the
>> device? Should it be there just in case they need a hand? At what point
>> is it a problem if the user has to refer to the manual?
>>
>> Looking forward to responses.
>>
>> Sam
>>
>>
> I think it is a great idea to do a usability study on Rockbox. I think a
> larger sample size than just your family is needed for a useful study
> though. It should cross a large demographic range too.
>
> Just a fore-warning: the usability study may not render any actual changes
> as development is volunteer based and is largely driven by what the person
> doing the work feels is the best way to solve a problem. We currently do
> not have a formal "Human Interface Guidelines" which are followed or used to
> my knowledge beyond trying to make it as consistent as possible across all
> targets. Also keep in mind that there are hardware limitations where, for
> example, things like certain button combinations may not be possible
> depending on the target.
>
> If the usability study had a large enough sample size then it could
> potentially be used as a more objective source of how something should
> appear to the user.
>
> Personally, I think it would be ideal for the user just be given a "quick
> start" introduction to Rockbox and then be able to do your standard jukebox
> tasks without referring to the manual. I think it is fine for the user to
> have to refer to the manual for more advanced features that are beyond the
> scope of most players on the market.
>
> Another note I have is that a usability study does not have to be limited
> to the software. It should also include the manual by testing tasks that
> the user "should" refer to the manual for.
>
> In short: basic tasks should be easy to accomplish without having to read
> detailed instructions, while more advanced topics should have the
> information intuitively located for the user to accomplish the desired task.
>
> You might want to take a look at a gnome usability report that has a nice
> summary of the results along with detailed information from each
> participant:
> http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gup/ut1_report/report_main.html.
>
>
Received on 2009-11-24