Hello Ady, Le Mon, 11 Nov 2013 06:11:10 +0200, Ady <ady...@hotmail.com> a écrit :
> > > Hello, > > > > As there were some exchanges about the survey here and as I > > advertised it on this mailing list as well, I thought you might be > > interested by my initial analysis: > > http://standardsandfreedom.net/index.php/2013/11/10/users-the-final-frontier/ > > > > Thank you for your participation! > > > > -- > > If I may... > > There are many ways for users to communicate: LibreOffice forum, Ask > LibreOffice, several LibreOffice mailing lists, Nabble, wiki, > Bugzilla, and several irc channels. The problem is, IMHO, they are > sometimes "too many" and "too complicated". Let me explain with a > simple example. > > In the release notes for LO 4.1.3, it said that the release was bit > by bit the same as "RC3". Well, that was incorrect, as it is the same > as 4.1.3.2, a.k.a. RC2 (there was no 4.1.3.3). What a casual reader > needs to do if he happens to catch the "typo"? Can he easily report > the one-character mistake? Does anyone think that this typo deserves > opening a new bug report in Bugzilla? > > For each contact method mentioned above (each ML, Nabble, wiki, > Bugzilla, forum,...), a user needs to go through an additional sign > up, sometimes requiring multiple steps. In our example (RC3 typo), do > you think a casual reader would go through a sign up process just to > report one wrong character? > > Just as an example, I am subscribed to the users ML, and I found > annoying to go through additional sign-ups for Nabble. I can > understand that there might be relevant reasons for this; but it is > still annoying :). On the other hand, if a user is interested in > Writer only, having to receive emails regarding Draw (or anything > else than Writer) is one reason not to subscribe to the users ML. So > perhaps separated per-program lists should be available, instead of > one unified "users" ML? (I am not necessarily recommending it; just > mentioning such potential situation.) > > Then we have several irc channels, but none of those channels > targeted to users are really active, ever (e.g. #libreoffice and/or > #libreoffice-qa). So what's the point of publishing the "existence" > of those irc channels if they are not really open with someone from > the LibreOffice Team being present in the channel? I'm not saying > answers should be "on real time". For irc to be relevant for users, > someone at least should maintain the channel open and saving logs, > checking it once a day or so. This is one contact method that could > be easily used to report the typo mentioned in our example. > > One day is one typo, another day is another typo. Then there is some > minor low-priority bug in the installer (e.g adding a link to the > desktop even when the user unchecked the corresponding box during the > installation process). Then the wiki might need some little > correction or update... For each minor issue, a user could just think > "not worth going through all the sign up troubles for each different > service". As a consequence, none of those little corrections are > reported / performed. > > What's the point of "Ask LibreOffice" if each question is seen, say, > 3 times in a one week period? Most questions are unanswered. > Similarly with LibreOffice forum. A user might not bother to sign up > to such a method that is hardly ever used by relevant users; and if > it goes through it anyway and no answer is provided (as it is the > case with most "Ask LibreOffice" topics), it would probably generate > a rejection response towards LibreOffice. > > If a user signs up and opens a bug report, that's because it is > significant for him. Is this procedure relevant if the bug report is > left unanswered for 2 years? Is this user going to keep reporting > additional bugs? Evidently, solving bugs requires man power, so > finding a simpler method to report "you have a st*pid typo" might > help reduce wasted time, for both developers and users. > > So, making the contact methods more relevant, easier (unified?) sign > up procedures and actually maintaining "active" and relevant the > different contact channels would contribute to receive more feedback > and eventually reduce wasted time. > > I am writing not to complain, but to voice my personal view of some > of the ways to improve user's involvement in LibreOffice. I admit I > am not sure if any of these changes would be the most effective use > of man-power, so I'm not going to call these "recommendations". These > might be potential considerations for potential improvements. Whether > they are _effective_ use of man-power, I don't really know. > > Thank you and Best Regards, > Ady. Thank you a lot for your input. The survey does not cover the problem you described specifically. But it definitely makes sense, and I think we should keep your points in mind, although there is no easy solution given that part of the reason there is no single sign on is security. Thanks a lot, it's really useful. Best, -- Charles-H. Schulz Co-founder, The Document Foundation, Kurfürstendamm 188, 10707 Berlin Gemeinnützige rechtsfähige Stiftung des bürgerlichen Rechts Legal details: http://www.documentfoundation.org/imprint Mobile Number: +33 (0)6 98 65 54 24. -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
