Interesting article on n00b usability

[Matthew East]

On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 2:35 AM, Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
> users from majority OSs will expect to download a
> package and then double-click it, so that's the packaging system the
> developers have gone for.

{snip}

> Not sure what to suggest. One possible answer that springs to mind is
> a little app, installed by default and left in plain sight somewhere
> obvious. Call it "Linux Advisor" or something like that. Give it a
> list of common questions for Linux migrants, searchable via some easy
> query method, and simple answers with web links for more info. Typical
> questions might be:
>  - "How to install new programs"
>  - "How to install new programs that aren't in add/remove" (which is a
> lot - I seldom use it)
>  - "How to install new programs not provided by Ubuntu"
>  - "How to connect to a shared drive on a Windows box"
>  - "How to share a drive for a Windows box to connect to"
>  - "How to connect to a printer on a Windows box"
>  - "How to share a local printer with a Windows box"

An application like this more or less exists already: if you click on
the question mark in the panel you get the Ubuntu help center, and the
front page of that contains a list of around 5 or so common questions
which link to information about how to do these things. Of course,
very few people ever open this application...

It might be a productive discussion to discuss whether (a) the list of
questions can or should be modified or expanded (for example, how to
install programs is an obvious one which I think we could easily
provide) and (b) whether this program could be more visible (for
example, should it open by default on first login, or should there be
a notification message which directs the user to the existence of the
help center?)

These are issues that have been widely discussed in the past but have
never lead to any concrete changes in the way that we do things. I'd
certainly be interested in any thoughts that might lead to some
initiative.

Personally, I'd definitely like to see a couple of other common
questions included in the list, and a notification message appear on
first-login that directs the user to the existence of the help center.

-- 
Matthew East
http://www.mdke.org
gnupg pub 1024D/0E6B06FF