[mythtv] MythTV Usability Report

[Rob Hillis]

Herman Kuiper wrote:
>> I'm sorry but that's absolute BS.   Of course the users should need to
>> read the manual. A VCR comes with a manual for crying out loud.  Any
>> usability study for a suite of software as complex as MythTV that 
>> doesn't
>> involve some sort of basic user knowledge or R of TFM is seriously
>> flawed.
>
> Hmmm, I would think that any software or hardware requiring me to read 
> a manual would have non-optimal useability. In optimal useability, the 
> whole idea would be that you won't need a manual.

The problem is that the balance between functionality and usability is 
often one near enough to impossible to strike.  I'm going to agree with 
the previous poster - MythTV at least needs a basic user guide.  As 
relatively easy as MythTV is to use, a good number of functions remain 
"hidden" because people don't know to press the right arrow at this 
place to get more options, or that you can do this or that from a 
certain place by pressing keys that might not be 100% intuitive.  (every 
remote control I've had has not had the optimal button configuration for 
MythTV, so I've had to improvise)