Hi Graham, >> If the desire is not big, but the cost is low, consumption may still >> take >> place (e.g. take the free newspapers that get thrown at you) > > There are different types of "Cost" For me for instance the cost of > download is substantial in time. Downloading OOo takes around 12 hours.
I agree, the metaphor of a newspaper being thrown at you for free is not applicable in this case (I am on a pretty fast campus network myself, which of course is a bit of the opposite extreme) > I made another comparison offlist the other day with some marketing > people. Note that this is in relation strictly to casual arrivals at the > site. Not people who for some reason or other had at some point made a > decision to come to openoffice.org for whatever reason. > > <quote.> (...) > BUT and this is the biggy, at step No 3: We fail to create the Desire for > that product. I agree. > There is nothing essentially wrong with the first version, but desire > needs to > be created before the buyer enters, so the proprietor in this case spends > large on Advertising and reduces facility costs. Good point. > </quote> > I know some think of marketing as a dirty word and that marketing people > live somewhere off Mars, but right now that's what we're talking about I don't mind (I have used 'We need to sell OOo'... which may even sound even more commercial for these marxists here ;) >> I think you over-simplified the type of questions. Problem with a >> question based approach is that it may not fit all questions (or the >> user may have formulated their questions differently). Furthermore, long >> texts on buttons are not easy to process either, so I am not sure >> whether that would fit in with the simplicity approach. > > Actually that is incorrect, when a person is in a familiar environment > then yes a simple suggestion, a single word, a simple icon is enough (however...)? > The most basic intuition is to read sentences. People do not read words. > They read blocks of words in groups of between five and eight. People are > ALWAYS attracted to any sentence with " I " in it. I'm talking the > Definite Pronoun here not the letter. They will then take in the block > of text around that. They will read large text first before small. They > will read anything in or around the colour Orange before anything else. > All of the above are on the level of instinctive Is it your intuition or some intuition learned at marketing schools, or some basic scientific knowledge behind it? I know people don't read letters, but do read words. Focusing on "I", is something I have never heard of, but could be true. I only know that a lot of user interaction is done using single/two word buttons and icons, which has been reasonably effective in creating usable interfaces. That is not to say that I would formulate this email in one word 'sentences' rather than the format I am using now. Sentences are great for communication, explaining, but I doubt whether an interface should be based around Q/A. And that is what you seem to suggest. I don't mind having question/statements like, 'Why should I download OOo?' but, I wouldn't want such sentence as a button. A link, could do, but not a button... Why? Hard to give a definite answer, but the main thing that is coming to my mind is because no-one else is doing it, and there has to be some reason for it. I would think it is because sentences, multiple words, take longer to process, cognitively. Silly, too extreme, example but still: "I would like to download OpenOffice.org" "I don't want to download yet, but want to read first" Compare that to: "Download" "More Info" In your e-mail you referred to a TV demonstration in a shop. You would like to see a nice DVD playing it, probably with more of a cinema atmosphere to it, rather than a dull cardboard box saying HDTV inside. I'm inclined to think that the suggestion about statements may be more of replacing the 'TV', 'Radio', 'Other' alley names in a factory store to 'I want televisions', 'I want a stereo', 'I want something else' it is still not about tackling the right convincing atmosphere. We need the showcase. We need to able to show people why OOo is the best product. We have to position it better. It doesn't offer a better colors, but it does offer? For me as a more of an advanced user it is clear why to use OOo, it has a good technical basis, but what do we say to someone who doesn't care about creating large documents, just wants to have a wordprocessor for their kids' schoolwork, and for some nice invitations? What we don't have: - A great font selection (in either quality / quantity) - A great clipart selection (in either quality / quantity) - 100% support for the worlds most popular word processing format - Great themes to get you the most fanciest letters (in either quality / quantity) - A price tag that communicates, well it is expensive so it rather be good What we do have: - A free office suite - ISO compliant OpenDocument format - Great way of promoting styles - Multiplatform (as in 2+) - Easy to use? (well that's just ones opinion) - Great software (well, why?) but how does that appeal to the average user who doesn't care these? I don't think you solve these shortcomings by turning words into phrases. > I am however a Teacher and knowing how people take in information is > important in my profession. I think interfaces are not only about intake of information. > Some people touted the OpenSuSE.org front page and I like it's simplicity > but when I went there to get help for a problem with 10.3 I decided that > it was actually really bad and in fact other than the central download > button very confusing. Does that count as inspiration caused by > frustration? :) Well, would it have changed if only the button text was changed in a sentence (i guess this is more the point of this mail) > The Answers I put up however follow the sequence > > What now? -->yes =click > > no= "What else" > > and so on down the list until the answer matches the users need at that > moment. Maybe it is about what you like, and what I like as well... When I need a new shirt, I go into the store and always hope to avoid the person trying to 'advice' me... yet I do look at what is at display. Arguing about what I might like with some person who's running a script, since he or she doesn't know me, always makes me want to leave the store, because it is consuming too much of my energy... but as said, it could be personal preference, and maybe age related (I'm only 25)? I like this discussion though, so while my answers may be a bit short/critical (which you might interpret as something negative), I don't want this to stop the discussion. I'm interested in what you have to say about this! Kind regards, Maarten --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
