On Sat, 2011-08-20 at 18:09 +0300, Felipe Contreras wrote: > On Sat, Aug 20, 2011 at 6:02 PM, Shaun McCance <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Sat, 2011-08-20 at 14:43 +0200, Tomasz Torcz wrote: > >> I think his objections were justified. There is really no raw data > >> at those URLs. > > > > Except Allan never claimed he was providing raw data. In fact, > > he explicitly said that he does not do write-ups of user tests. > > So what's the point of replying to a mail asking specifically for data?
When somebody asks me for something I don't have, I usually respond telling them so, and explaining why I don't have it. I think it's rude to ignore people. > > I also do user tests when working on the help. I also don't do > > write-ups. I fix problems or I pass information on to those who > > are in a position to fix the problems. > > > > Just because I don't publish reports doesn't mean I don't do > > user tests. And the constant assertions that nobody is looking > > at feedback are getting a bit insulting. > > User tests, like surveys, are not perfect and can be both misleading, > and not significant enough. You're right, of course. All methods have flaws. But user testing, at least, gives results that are personal and actionable. When I get results like "all 5 users were uncertain where to click when instructed to click the 'user menu'", I know what to do. I have no idea what to do with "63% of respondents report they are less happy than they were a year ago". > If those tests are to be taken seriously, they should be published so > that they can be scrutinized, otherwise they are not evidence of > anything, not to the rest of the world. I agree there are problems with transparency. A lot of things get done on IRC, because high-bandwidth communication is great for rapid development. I've been a strong supporter of public logs for IRC. I think we should discuss ways to better record what we do and the decisions we make. But, I don't want to be in a situation where we have to wait for committees to scrutinize data and approve proposals before we can make changes. That sounds like an awful project to write software for. -- Shaun _______________________________________________ desktop-devel-list mailing list [email protected] http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/desktop-devel-list
