launchpad-dev team mailing list archive

[Robert Collins <robertc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, May 27, 2011 at 3:02 AM, Paolo Sammicheli <xdatap1@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/launchpad/+bug/54652
>
> I agree with some comments that, at the end, having the workaround in the description is
> technically quite the same thing but it's not the same user experience for a new ubuntu
> user reporting its first bug. A separate workaround field would be easier to be
> recognized and founded with searches.
>
> Actually the ubuntu community is moving faster, we want 200M users in 4 years, do you
> guys think that could make sense to review the priority of this feature request?

A few (technical) thoughts here.

Firstly, our search is -hugely- complex. Adding another text field is
doable, but adding a specific search on just that text field would
make a poor UI worse IMNSHO. So I would encourage significant user
testing on that angle. E.g. get measured answers on:
 - should existing full text search should just find matches in that field?
 - should there be a search facility specific to the field?

Secondly, yes, having a specific workarounds field would add specific
modelling. It also adds UI overhead - more things to process when you
look at the bug page. This can be a benefit or a curse. User testing
with a goal of answering the following sorts of questions would be
useful:
 - does having a separate field make life harder/easier for developers?
 - does having a separate field increase/decrease users satisfaction
with their interactions with Launchpad when dealing with a problem in
Ubuntu?

I'll note that some -very- big organisations, at least in their public
systems, don't expose workaround as a separate field - its just marked
up as a paragraph title.

We'd like to do some minimal and tasteful markup rendering in bug
subscriptions I think, its a long standing request to let folk
communicate more effectively.

Lastly, I'm not entirely sure of the 200M relevance here: by the time
a non-FOSS user has:
 - encountered a bug
 - learnt that Launchpad is where the bugs knowledge is kept
 - found the actual matching existing bug (if there is one and if
there are not similar-but-different things confusing it)

We've already lost. Thats about 3 -massive- hurdles that filter out
folk without either a passion for what we are doing or a vested
interest in contributing to Ubuntu.

-Rob