On 1/24/07, Jonathan Matthews-Levine <matthewslevine at gmail.com> wrote: > On 1/24/07, Ferenc Szekely <ferenc at maemo.org> wrote: > > I have written a manual and would like to > > collect feedback from you: > > http://test.maemo.org/applications/user-manual > > Very nice! Here are my first thoughts, primarily from a consumer > perspective. I personally think this PoV is *very* important, having > written user-manuals for (apparently) simple operations and tasks > which I thought were as clear as possible, only to have inexperienced, > confused and - yes - bloody minded users poke holes in my prose :-) > I've not looked at the less consumer-oriented project admin sections > ... I was looking forward receiving comments like yours. Thanks a lot! > > __General Points__ > > o Limit (but don't hard code!) the text width for better readability > The choice of documentation tool (wiki) is limiting us as far as the layout is concerned. Perhaps some css fix could be applied. > o Break the document into two; separate the "how to use a website" > tutorial (Browsing/Searching/Installing) which "users" will read out > from the "how to be a project admin" section > (Adding/Changing/Deleting). They are aimed at two very different > audiences and the latter half of the document will only scare > consumers ... :-) > Absolutely correct. Good idea. > __Section-specific Points__ > > * Introduction to Application Catalog > o Don't make the link to the "old wiki based catalog" clickable. Put > the URL after it for reference, but don't provide an easy way to > revert to the old, un-updated mechanism. > o The third sentence has a typo: "at the end of 2<006," > o The fifth sentence should read "if you could enter your feedbacks IN > our issue tracker" > o Consider making the "maemo2midgard-discussion" link a mailto: link, > with the mailman interface link in brackets at the end of the > sentence. > Yep, good points. > * Overview > o Use full sentences (Think Of The Children^WConsumers!) ("Browse > through the list of all available applications" vs "browse > applications", etc.) > o Link the verbs through to the appropriate section. > Agreed. > * Installation with install file > o "make sure that it matches the operating system version" - how, as a > consumer? Are there any (well, I *know* there are!) rules of thumb > they can apply? Yes, sure there are. I will add info on how to check the OS versions on the tablets. > o "Applications that are placed in a proper "Debian style" repository > can have "install files" and making the single click installation > possible" - consumers don't care. This is more appropriate in the > "Adding a project" section, as it's a developer's choice, not a user's > ... > True. > * Installation without install file > o Tidy this section up. Use more whitespace. Perhaps make a > screenshot trail. It will probably be one of the most frequently used > sections by consumers and, as such, *very* obvious/clear/pretty > instructions will really help this audience to get the most out of > their device. > I agree. Although it is difficult to write a generic "how-to" for these applications. As you probably know many apps can be installed by a single deb file, but a lot of them need other packages to be installed first. Even these dependencies may have further dependencies sometimes.. So it is a real nightmare from user point of view. The screenshot tail is a good idea. I wonder if there is and applet already for N800 to take screenshots :) > HTH, > Jonathan Absolutely, thank you. I will work on the updates now and will keep you posted. Cheers, ferenc
