usability testing?
- April 29th, 2008
- Posted in Technology
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so this guy sits his girlfriend down and gives her a brand new ubuntu machine to use. she’s a complete windows user who has never used linux before. and then he gives her a few tasks to do such as burning and downloading a music album, photoshopping images, changing OS themes, drawing pictures and saving it in different formats, and launching things like her MSN profile.
the results are interesting. i don’t agree too much with a lot of his conclusions but the way the user decided to go about doing things makes for a good read. tost how’s your conversion been with you and omair?
i had the same experience as his gf being a linux noob
also no way I could get my bellsouth dsl to work on ubuntu
its getting there but more work needed
ive been listening to you talk about unbunto forever now, and it raises a bit of interest, but as someone who literally grew up with windows, switching now would be hell. because:
a) i tried gimp. i hated it so much i ended up deleting it. from my system. forever. and vowed never to install it again.
b) i have 10 years of latent understanding of windows. switching now would mean flushing all of that down the drain and going back to 1997.
c) the day my internet slows the IT people get hell from me. my boss gets high bp when he cannot figure out his black-berry / windows vista (which is btw, always crashing). the point im trying to make is, i wouldnt want to switch to something that would frustrate me or hinder my efforts. if this migration cannot be seamless, id rather go with what ive been doing for so long.
im completely blonde (no offense intended to people of certain haircolour) when it comes to technology, but i have reached a certain level where i can take apart computers and put them back together.
i would recomment unbuntu for say, my mom, who is just coming around to sending emails.
hemlock,
i will be more than happy to guide you through the conversion. so let’s go through your post one by one.
a) if you’re a huge photoshop user, the conversion to gimp is not as easy as i make it out to be. though basic gimp is more powerful than basic photoshop. the interface takes a bit getting used to, but it works, and it works well. photoshop from what i hear has better plugins, but i don’t know of any plugin for PS which is free. gimp can be extremely powerful if you use it and take the time to learn it. if you’re in advanced PS user, i would assume your learning curve for GIMP would be fairly high.
b) unlearning windows is the best thing you can do to pick up using ubuntu. you can get a quick tutorial without even installing it. just throw the CD into your drive and it’ll boot up into linux and you can test it out and get used to the interface without ever touching your hard drive or corrupting windows. itll run the entire OS off the CD so thats one way of getting used to it, though since its running off the CD it’s a bit slow and rather annoying i feel. i would instead consider using wubi, an installer that allows you to install ubuntu within windows like you would any other application and uninstall it like any other program. (note: i have personally not tried this but have heard rave reviews about it). this installer option is available by default in the new version of ubuntu.
you have to ask yourself, what exactly do you do on your windows machine, and how comfortable are you in doing those tasks in a different environment. you won’t be changing your tasks, just changing the environment. for pretty much every windows option, theres a unix alternative. if you’re primarily only doing word processing and browsing the web and checking email, you should have no issues. i assume you’re not a heavy gamer because if you were, i assume we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.
c) what exactly are your efforts? you have a stable OS in ubuntu which will not crash on you, has support for all your mobile devices and the OS by the way really has no control over your internet connection, blame your ISP for that.
i am prepared to guide you through this entire conversion over email/phone/IM, whichever your poison as i’ve done for countless others. once again, many different options available, you can set up a dual boot system where you leave your windows partition in tact, try out ubuntu on a different partition and then see how you like it. and then when you’re comfortable you can transition over to ubuntu completely.
or you can go straight to ubuntu and leave windows altogether. to be honest this is the simplest option. as long as you have all your data backed up, i’ll guide you through everything else.
using ubuntu is fun. not a pain. there’s no worry about cracks, virii, pirated software, hack arounds, and other such annoyances. there is ease of use, a very friendly community, and a way to think about how you use your computer in a very different manner.
albeit there are occasional glitches and hiccups that i have to admit exist but with a release every six months 99% of them are cleaned up and fixed.
:/
@hemlock
Ubuntu is definitely an OS for the brave if you are all thumbs when it comes to IT then I would just take very ginger steps down the Ubuntu alley – I say this with full honesty – switching from Windows to Ubuntu (I did that being talked into by Abbass – I don’t regret it but it is a definite learning curve –
I think we might be able to help you along but it would require some courage on your part as well to step into the wilderness.
Ubuntu for me is a dream come true, am a rejuvenated man and love the freedom to have the ability to alter and modify the core system (though I don’t know crap) but its just a high I sometimes get when I solve a simple issue which would have been impossible in Windoze
I must agree with your GIMP sucks ;) but the OS is so much like Wondows that you may never know the difference and the help forums on Ubuntu are amazing. Try the Live CD play with it for a few days and I am sure you will like it – heck the best part is no more through the nose software costs – all is free in this part of the world.
i can read between the lines abbas… see what TM is saying:
“it is a definite learning curve ” [translation: dont even think about it, my non-regret is qualified]
:D
TM: i learnt in business school that there is no such thing as a free lunch. which means, if it doesnt cost anything in terms of money, it will – in terms of stress and frustration – which i was telling abbas – is a stage ive crossed on windows. i am comfortable tearing apart windows and putting it back together… i suppose i can do the same with ubuntu or any other rocket science too… but why not spend that time on the beach?!
Hemlock – I think I too came across the stage when I was really good at Window – to be able to tear it apart – but then once yo uget over the excitement – its boring, for me Ubuntu was a challenge , does it compare to wasting time – which might be spent on the beach – NAH – when I have to go to the beach -I drop everything and run – but that all figuratively.
I think I enjoy the challenges Ubuntu may throw out at you – you learn a lot more with out the gift of the BSOD.
Learning curve -YES – difficultly – YES, for those who fret challenges, but exciting as hell
@hemlock
I’ve been using ubuntu for over a year now. never looked back. and i’d been using windows for nearly ten years and was pretty good at it. now i can’t stand to use a windows computer, and vista just hates me.
as for photoshop, i’m a photographer. though i don’t shoot professionally, gimp can do whatever i require. except when it comes to RAW processing or some other very very specific tasks which i have to do on nikon’s windows-only software.
i love gimp, and the plugins never stop shocking you. they’re first class as well, not buggy or slow like you’d expect them to.
just jump in to the ubuntu club, free cookies.
P.S. i’m moving to debian btw. B)
TM & TPP: peer pressure taken to a new level?! ;) anything for free cookies =P
frankly, to be very very honest, i ENJOY challenges, i just need to have a clear goal at the end. my inability to comprehend what all ubuntu holds and what all it will liberate me from is what makes me hesitant to jump on the bandwagon.
that said, ive given my word to abbas ill give it a shot. no turning back now :)