Okay, so I dropped $30 an got a book on usability studies and how to make software more usable. I haven't had time to peruse the whole thing, but the first chapter has got me excited, and I've set a goal to start a movement in Fedora to actively make Fedora more usable for both Aunt Tillie and Eric Raymond, and everyone in between. On my own accord, I am going to begin doing some usability studies with my wife with some software that I enjoy using and am familiar with. I will then branch out and solicit test subjects and subjects to test from the community. I will work out the details and figure out what works and what doesn't. My goals are: 1) Develop a system of developing usability tests. 2) Develop a system of recruiting and retaining test subjects who represent the community or target audience on the cheap. 3) Develop a system of obtaining, analyizing, and publishing the results. 4) Develop a system of cooperating with the developers so that the results have maximum benefit for their projects. If you are already doing something like this, I would like to know about your experiences. Are there some people at RedHat actively working on this? Are there people in the various software communities that are doing this? Do you know where I can go for more information so that I can stand on the shoulders of giants rather than walk in their shadows? Please let me know if you know about anything related to this. I am particular interested in community, non-profit usability studies. -- Jonathan Gardner jgardner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
