[Sugar-devel] Call for testing

[Simon Schampijer]

>>> On Sun, Jan 17, 2010 at 15:36, Christian Marc Schmidt
>>> <christianmarc at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>> Hi Sugar Design Group:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I enjoyed the meeting yesterday, and think we ended up making several
>>> good
>>>> decisions. However, regarding the Home view, I am now beginning to
>>> wonder if
>>>> we are doing the right thing by hastily changing the design without
>>>> conducting a proper qualitative study.
>>>> I am only questioning it because I feel that, with every major design
>>>> change, it would be best if we had real evidence, beyond just the
>>> anecdotal.
>>>> Ideally, I envision the design team being a part of these observations,
>>> and
>>>> systematically testing design decisions in the field with a number of
>>>> participants. It need not be more than say a sampling of 20-30 students
>>> of
>>>> various age-groups, but the insight from these observations could really
>>>> drive us to make more informed design decisions, based on more than just
>>> our
>>>> opinions (which, as we saw yesterday, tends to lead to compromise).
>>>> So, I personally think that we are at a point where we should try and
>>>> arrange for some user-testing for the design group, however we
>>> facilitate
>>>> it, before proceeding with any revisions to the existing design (though
>>> I
>>>> wouldn't want that to hold us back from adding any additional features
>>> like
>>>> the thumbnail view, that continue to build out the UI to match the
>>> original
>>>> design intent). I have a little experience putting together qualitative
>>> test
>>>> protocols, and while I'm not sure exactly how to facilitate these
>>> testing
>>>> sessions, I think some of you may have ideas.
>>>> What do you think? Should we use our meeting next Saturday to discuss
>>> our
>>>> options for testing?

Thanks Christian for putting this on the table. Of course, a 
qualitative study would help to get some data about the new design and 
we should setup a process to get that feedback. As you mentioned some of 
the designs probably do not need that much of a study.

Today I thought about how we can achieve a full Feature cycle. We have 
several parts settled but they are not all linked together yet and some 
are missing.

We have the Feature Policy, which main goal is to make systematic and 
predictable the process by which community ideas on how Sugar should 
evolve get transformed into actionable proposals. The Feature process 
includes the task of the submitter to get feedback of the design team 
(if the Feature adds UI or changes current UI). What we have not defined 
is what we do with the design teams feedback. We should give the 
submitter a way to comment on that design and in cases like the Home 
View changes we probably should get feedback in form of a study. Of 
course we need the developers as well to create testable 'ideas'. And 
who has the final word?

I will think about it a bit more and ideas are of course welcome. It is 
not an easy task as it needs cross-team communication and cross-team 
working. Already with the work we did yesterday we made a big step 
forward into that direction and I am very happy about that.

Thanks,
    Simon

[1] http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Features/Policy