GNOME Usability Issues Analyzed As Part Of GNOME OPW

[phoronix]

Phoronix: GNOME Usability Issues Analyzed As Part Of GNOME OPW

As part of the latest round of GNOME's Women Outreach Program, usability issues with GNOME were analyzed...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GNOME-Usability-Issues-1

[gens]

i don't think any studies will help gnome(3) usability
maybe for mac users, as they seem to be in high percent in those studies, but then just make it like osx as they wont settle for anything else

[grndzro]

i don't think any studies will help gnome(3) usability
maybe for mac users, as they seem to be in high percent in those studies, but then just make it like osx as they wont settle for anything else

I can't imagine what problems you could possible have with Gnome 3 or extensions. What simple tasks are you struggling with?

[IsacDaavid]

I would like to see a usability study comparing different desktop operating systems each one assigned to a fair control group with no previous exposure to computers.
This could really shed light on the merits of each UX without biasing to established paradigms and idioms.

[jaxxed]

I would like to see a usability study comparing different desktop operating systems each one assigned to a fair control group with no previous exposure to computers.
This could really shed light on the merits of each UX without biasing to established paradigms and idioms.

While unrealistic, I think it is a good point that you make. Many complaints about OS/WM UX are related to previous experience with computers "It doesn't work exactly like I'm used to", even if the new workflow is actually "easier" or in some subjective ways better.

[kaprikawn]

The only way this would be useful is if Gnome devs actually listened to suggestions

[zoomblab]

IMHO the whole gnome shell / activities separate screen for window management / anorexic "innovations" (all over the place) / etc. are a usability disaster. They should drop it all together. No matter how much I tried to like it, I couldn't. Thankfully I have jumped ship to Unity & KDE and I don't care anymore. However, if they are serious with analyzing their usability problems, they should revise their whole interface.

[scionicspectre]

The only way this would be useful is if Gnome devs actually listened to suggestions

So, what your saying is that this will go swimmingly?

[justmy2cents]

The only way this would be useful is if Gnome devs actually listened to suggestions

problem with suggestions is that if you get 10 people suggesting same thing, you still get 10 variations in most cases. and the fact that people that like the original usually don't speak up since it is how they feel it is right

only thing one could hold against gnome design team is that they didn't focus on biggest complaints as they shown up. by waiting they just kept piling peoples mistrust.

still, i have to admit 3.14 fixed most of what i felt wrong and 3.16 not only fixed last points, it also fixed it better than anywhere else. having something as broken by design as tray keyboard accessible sure was one of biggest surprises i ever saw. once you think of main reason why tray is broken is the fact that it is only accessible with limited input, in gnome 3.16 you can use it fully. i'd say 3.14 and 3.16 are definitely proof gnome devs listen to users, they just don't jump on first assumption and provide another bad version

right now, the only design bug (or more like HIG rule for them) that i can see is notification overuse. i mean, it is cool if terminal sends it, but what is there a point if currently active terminal sends it for short timed command like ls. there is no point in notifying me about something i already know. but, if notifications would be limited only when terminal was not active, this would mean i started some long term command where i didn't want to wait for it to finish and focused my work elsewhere in that time, that notification will mean something. things like that should definitely be a part of HIG on how to interact with notifications. HIG should definitely specify that if application it self provides visual queue something happened and it is active, then notification should not be sent. if you send 95% of meaningless data, people start ignoring the useful 5%

[mike4]

One of my major conditions is game performance. Michael could you do from time to time a desktop comparison for games fps?

KDE is to bloated and am fine with Unity. If I see Gnome as fast as Unity I'll try it again. On OSX I love the possibilty to save windows etc.
for the next reboot. Also on Ubuntu suspend often reboots to dark.