Default Desktop Experience for 11.04 - User testing results

[Paul Sladen]

On Fri, 15 Apr 2011, Rick Spencer wrote:
> > > For brand new users? Some of the tasks aren't relevant.
> > Which ones?
> Changing the background image and setting in general.

On the contrary.  Changing the wallpaper and screensaver are comforting
personalisation steps that new users seem to undertake on their own.

Having a user (of their own free-will) spend 45 minutes fiddling with
all possible screensaver/wallpaper setting might not be interesting to
you, but it is an excellent subconscious reward-driven learning
experience for the user.  By the end, a person who has potentially
never used Ubuntu before has gained familiarity with the interface,
widget set, with the touchpad setting and scrollbars.

...Of course, since upstream GNOME extradicated most of the
screensaver options a few years ago this learning experience is
severely truncated---it's one thing I'd love to unchanged.

I have over the last decade has personal reports of people who've
switched to Ubuntu purely because of the screensavers after firing up
the LiveCD.  I assume for every report I've heard directly there were
10 who didn't know who to tell, 100 who were going to mention it but
didn't, 1,000 who forgot completely after getting hooked and buying
swag from the Canonical Ship and 10,000 who ... ad infinitum.

We try to ship excellent defaults.  We also ship more than one
wallpaper on the CD, and there's a reason for that.

	-Paul