unity-design team mailing list archive

[Alan Bell <alanbell@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 25/03/12 19:06, Omar B. wrote:
> from an user study some time ago about ubuntu's showstoppers:
>
> http://design.canonical.com/2010/06/when-new-users-first-encounter-ubuntu-5-show-stoppers/
>
> /3. Use of jargon/
> /
> /
> /During their exploration of Ubuntu, participants encountered words 
> they didn't know, or didn't expect, or terms that they had no use for: 
> examples included 'Gwibber','*broadcast*','terminal' and 'server'. 
> "You lose me with 'terminal' and 'server'." one person said./
> /
> /
> /The use of such specialised language significantly influenced how 
> users perceived the brand and the intended audience for Ubuntu. Some 
> of the participants wondered whether Ubuntu was meant really for 
> expert users rather than for them./
>
>
> So I told a friend that ubuntu came with *social network integration 
> (facebook/twitter)* right in the panel.
>
> She then later called me because she couldn't find the way to do it.
>
> I then explained to her that she needed to go to "*set up broadcast 
> account".*
> *
> *
> She told me she didnt want to "broadcast stuff", she just wanted to 
> get status updates from her friends on facebook...
>
> I then told her that what a broadcast account really meant is connect 
> to her social network.
So should we really be using the trademarks of proprietary services to 
label features of the operating system? Yes you might want to Hoover the 
carpet, and Xerox some documents and but you should understand that 
using a vacuum cleaner or a photocopier are the more correct general 
terms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark. Arguably we could 
say that "social networks" is a more understood term than "broadcast 
accounts", but I don't think using the trademarks would be a good idea. 
I guess most people actually don't want to broadcast what they are 
doing, what they want to do is lurk and see what other people are doing. 
There are a lot more readers than writers on social networks.

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