unity-design team mailing list archive

[Mark Shuttleworth <mark@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 08/02/12 13:13, C. Cooke wrote:
> What about thinking about some research into the top five or six 
> things that people find confusing or frustrating during the first few 
> days of use? It's that time period which really makes the first 
> impression, after all. 

The first hour is make-or-break, and we research that rigorously, every 
few months. We call it baseline testing, because we always do the same 
routine: sit a new, un-prejudiced user down in front of the current 
snapshot of Ubuntu or its competitors, tell them they have just been 
given a new PC, camera, USB stick etc, and invite them to get a list of 
things done. Things like surfing the web, sending email, sharing a photo 
with friends via Flickr, etc. The list is the same, so we can compare 
the effectiveness of Ubuntu as it evolves.

And the great news is that Ubuntu has improved, by this test, 
tremendously. Of course, all the apps in Ubuntu are improving, which 
helps a lot. But the Unity team's work - both on design and 
implementation - deserves a lot of the credit too.

Many of the changes made stem from that research and testing. Not all of 
them. But even the crazier bits can be tested in isolation to gain 
confidence or shape insights. There's no guarantee we don't have to go 
backwards occasionally (c.f. dodging launcher) but it's definitely true 
we are, on balance, racing ahead.

Mark