[mythtv-users] Why Free Software has poor usability ?

[Josh]

On Aug 6, 2008, at 11:02 AM, lists_mythtv_users <lists_mythtv_users at bigpizza.co.uk 
 > wrote:

> Michael T. Dean wrote:
>> On 08/04/2008 06:21 PM, Matt S. wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, Aug 4, 2008 at 12:15 PM, Brian Wood wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> Param Singh wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Interesting article :: Why Free Software has poor usability, and  
>>>>> how
>>>>> to improve it
>>>>> ============================================================
>>>>> Link :: http://mpt.net.nz/archive/2008/08/01/free-software-usability
>>>>> ============================================================
>>>>>
>>>>> Major Points in the article
>>>>>
>>>>> * Weak incentives for usability.
>>>>> * Few good designers.
>>>>> * Design suggestions often aren't invited or welcomed.
>>>>>
>>>> Well those first 3 certainly do not apply to the MythTV project.
>>>>
>>>>
>>> You are joking right?  These first 3 defintely apply to myth and if
>>> you don't think that, then that's exactly the kind of behavior that
>>> this article is pointing out.
>>>
>>>
>> ...
>>
>>> *Usability - could be WAY better.  I would never want to deploy myth
>>> to someone who wasn't technical like me.  However, I like it,  
>>> because
>>> I am a power user.  But, usability has never been a primary focus of
>>> the project, it's always been secondary to functionality.  In  
>>> fact, go
>>> search the archives and you'll get nearly 500+ emails on usability:
>>> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/engine?list=mythtv&do=search_results&search_forum=forum_1&search_string=usability&search_type=AND
>>> not to mention I remember a thread from a couple years ago where
>>> someoen was offering to do usability testing on myth because they  
>>> felt
>>> usability sucked, but it wasn't really welcomed - I think it might
>>> have been this thread:
>>> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/158724?search_string=usability%20test;#158724
>>> or this great example:
>>> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/172094?search_string=usability%20assessment;#172094
>>> (couldn't find the whole thread on Gossamer).
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> OK.  My view of MythTV (based on what I've seen on the lists) shows  
>> that
>> the biggest usability problem with MythTV is the sheer number of  
>> options
>> that users must configure appropriately when first setting up their
>> system.  That's also the reason for "competitors" (are we really
>> competing with anyone?) use "mythtv is a lot of work" as a marketing
>> tool (as pointed out by the OP in a follow-up at
>> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/344625#344625 ).
>>
>> So, a while ago, as part of the Google Summer of Code, a very zealous
>> student decided to help out with usability by making it easier to  
>> setup
>> and configure (
>> http://mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/SoC2006#Settings_Rework.2FEnhancements
>> ).  So, he posted a message to the -dev list with his proposed  
>> changes (
>> http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/dev/207059#207059 )  
>> and all
>> sorts of users came out of the woodwork to tell him exactly why all  
>> the
>> /completely useless/ settings he was proposing to remove needed to  
>> stay
>> (read the whole thread to see--my favorite was the "Time offset for
>> thumbnail preview images," which some clueless users still think is  
>> useful).
>>
>> So, what happened?  The poor kid basically didn't have a chance at
>> finishing the project because we were forced to:
>>
>>
>>> * Placating people with options. - Seriously, do I even need to  
>>> point
>>> out the hundreds of discussions on simplifying settings?  Also, what
>>> about the "hidden" options that are only available by directly  
>>> editing
>>> the database.
>>>
>>
>>
> Sounds like guided procedure could help.  Keep all the options,  
> default
> to having some of them hidden (unless the user chooses to switch on  
> some
> sort of expert mode) and have a "Help me setup" guided procedure that
> asks as few questions as possible with the goal of creating a working
> system using sensible defaults.
>
> Steve.
>
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Maybe a wizard that uses an animated paperclip to make itmore user  
friendly would be in order.