Launchpad “supports usability bugs” in the sense t...

2009-07-25T08:04:40.075-04:00

Launchpad “supports usability bugs” in the sense that you can report them just the same as you can report any other bug. For example, the One Hundred Paper Cuts project collects easy-to-fix usability problems for Ubuntu as bug reports.

However, it is more difficult to get design-related bug reports treated seriously than bug reports about stability, security, or technical correctness. First, some well-meaning bug reporters confuse a usability problem with their imagined solution, when there may be a better solution. Second, even if the bug report concentrates on the problem, some well-meaning triagers respond with the equivalent of “Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.” And third, developers who excel at learning strange interfaces themselves often under-prioritize usability bugs, because they overestimate the ability of other users to work around the problem. (All these difficulties apply to most Free Software projects, not just Ubuntu.)

To minimize these problems, when reporting a usability bug:
* Concentrate first on describing the problem, separate from any suggested solution. Present possible solutions in a separate paragraph, and avoid implying that they’re the only possible solutions.
* Where possible, cite an established usability guideline or principle involved in the problem (for example, from the Gnome Human Interface Guidelines).
* Where possible, give examples (or even better, statistics) of real people affected by the problem.

Finally, be careful about going overboard with this. If someone does something really strange in Ubuntu and gets lost, it’s possible that it’s just them, and trying to fix the interface for every individual problem anyone has ever had would result in a morass no-one wants to use. Report a bug only if you notice several people having the same problem, or if it’s fairly obvious that at many people will have the same problem.

So, nobody leaves #ubuntu without filing a launchp...

2009-07-24T04:10:45.692-04:00

So, nobody leaves #ubuntu without filing a launchpad bug?

Does launchpad support usability bugs yet?

Comments on The Silent Number: This is how all help desks should function!

Launchpad “supports usability bugs” in the sense t...

So, nobody leaves #ubuntu without filing a launchp...