On Thu, 2010-04-01 at 01:38 +0200, Juanjo Marin wrote: > http://live.gnome.org/SWOT
Very interesting and it appears to be thorough, but one things bugs me: "Usable GNOME understands that usability is about creating software that is easy for everyone to use, not about piling on features." I think the term "usable" implies general fitness, that what is refereed to can be used to accomplish what it is meant for without nasty side-effects. It does not necessarily imply a level of quality beyond that. Instead you could write "User-centered" or "User-friendly", perhaps. While there are varying definitions of usability, ease-of-use might be a factor among several, if it appears as such at all. The "for everyone" is problematic, but I know how hard it is to be more specific. A tight definition of usability could be: The combination of effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction of an interface, regarding a specific task, context and user(-group). Where effectiveness refers to the level of fitness for the purpose and efficiency refers to the amount of work or time required. It's a 3 level system: does it work at all, does it work well, is it satisfying? The last level puts some weight on rather emotional factors that can have an impact on performance. It is possible that a user is more satisfied with an interface that is actually less efficient. I guess vagueness in this area is another weakness. -- Thorsten Wilms thorwil's design for free software: http://thorwil.wordpress.com/ _______________________________________________ desktop-devel-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list
