Jakob Nielsen Talks About Usability in FOSS

dokey writes "In an interview with Builder AU, usability expert Jakob Nielsen gives his opinion of usability in Free and open source software. The article echoed what Jon "Maddog" Hall said earlier this year in a keynote at Linux.conf.au -- "Programmers Are From Mars, Users/Managers/Companies are from Venus". Is it time to pay more attention to end-users?(who aren't geeks)"

Comments

Let us all learn from him

[Anonymous Coward]

I suggest Slashdot copy his website's color scheme for their next section.

No.

[mfh]

> Is it time to pay more attention to end-users?(who aren't geeks)

Uhm... No, not really.

Re:No.

[Anonymous Coward]

There's nothing wrong with an OS/application that only geeks can use.... For example, I can't turn off Nautilus unless I don't care that my background doesn't get properly set to my root window, something that should not depend on nautilus at all.

If you're whining about the inability to maniuplate how bloated GUI app X interacts with bloated window manager Y then you aren't much of a geek, are you? Get back to your command line, n00b.

Time for some Nick Burns

[suso]

At times like these, it can be helpful to watch a little Nick Burns (Your Company's Computer Guy).

He fixes your computer, and then he's gonna make fun of you.

Who?

[MyShinyMetalAss]

Who are these 'end users' you speak of?

Is it time to pay more attention to end-users?

[Otter]

....asks Hemos as he blinds us with another blast of beige-on-white text...

Re:Is it time to pay more attention to end-users?

[mhesseltine]

Let themk write their own damn software.

Would that include a spelling-checker?

Hmm... look at this guy

[oliverthered]

He's so predictable he's even got a drinking game I think that means he's got high levels of usability.

His web site?

well, just take a look. /. games section has a better choice of colours.

anyhow, enough of that.

This guy could do to take a look at OSS for a change and stop contradicting himself (familiarity is good, oh, but don't clone)....

kde look has got more usability hanging off of it than, well, Nielsen I suppose.

OSS Firefox has create standards support (not excellent though), which is really handy if you trying to design a web site for dis/abled people.

Maybe OpenOffice does have more features than Office, but can't you just turn them off, or ignore them. Maybe I can preview sounds in Konquror, but not in Explorer. Maybe were all pissed of with the likes of Microsoft and Nielsen trying to dumb the world down, to the point where people stop thinking all together.

Most kids are coming through school with a high level of computer literacy, I'm sure even the ones who aren't geeks can get to grips with a Mandrake install.

Jakob Nielsen, shut the fuck up and fix you web site, and try to practise what you preach, before telling other what to do.

Is it time to pay more attention to end-users?

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

Let themk write their own damn software.

Bloody Soviets...

[McDutchie]

from the editing-text-files-suck dept.

Oh yeah?? Well, my editing text files rock! You had better believe it, or they might just edit you!

(Guess that's one way to solve the end user problem...)

Focus on usablilty?

[theantix]

Gee, it's too bad that there are no OSS projects that focus on usability. I wonder what such a product would look like if the OSS community ever tried to focus on that.

Re:Communication error

[chromatic]

Sure, it's confusing to people who know what they're doing, but it's more elegant!

Re:it is what IT is

[Anonymous Coward]

Great.....so I spend all day programming to the stupid whims of idiotic customers and then when I do some programming in my spare time of a project that I love....I have to listen to them to???

Fuck em!