Re: [linux-audio-user] Opening up the discussion

> I think the key question is about usability from
> the first minute the application is loaded.

[...]

> As much I think
> that you need to research the topic to do anything vaguely
> complex in your recording, the target for usability should
> be to limit the required research to a minimum.

[...]

> This operation is intuitive in Cooledit, Audacity
> and even video editing tools such as Premiere. To me, this
> is a real flaw in usability.

[...]
 
> I think Linux applications
> just need some usability love to make this happen.

[...]

> I do agree that the needs for a new user and pro user are
> different, but the only real difference is that the pro
> user goes into a far deeper level of detail. As such, I
> don't see how usability necessarily has to be different.

[...]

> It seems to me that applications such as Ardour simply need
> some usability discussion, testing and implementation.

[...]

> Even
> cursory glances at Ardour reveal a range of usability flaws
> - even simple issues such as dialog design, right up to
> structural issues.

[...]

Because you have used the term »usability« a lot, I'd like to
add that i also think that addressing usability could help a
lot, especially in the Linux audio world. It cannot solve all
issues, but a lot.

Unfortunately, usability needs time and resources. And I
understand well that a programmer of free software is more
interested in doing research and write new features than care
about usability issues.

I have held a talk about usability issues on Linux audio on
this years LAC:

http://sysexxer.sourceforge.net/files/lac2005-Linux-audio-usability.pdf

I often got very positive feedback when filing usability
feature requests for various projects, but sometimes I even
got told »The user should read the documentation« ;-) .

I agree with you that usability could reduce the amount of
documentation needed a lot.

Best regards

    ce
Received on Mon Jul 25 12:15:07 2005