Comments on: Usability: Can open source software catch up? http://andremalan.net/blog/2009/01/25/usability/ Hacking Education and Technology Mon, 21 Nov 2011 21:18:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Eastwood http://andremalan.net/blog/2009/01/25/usability/comment-page-1/#comment-137 Eastwood Thu, 12 Feb 2009 02:32:13 +0000 http://andremalan.net/?p=151#comment-137 Whhaaat? Window$ 7 over Ubuntu? Surely this can't be happening... Whhaaat? Window$ 7 over Ubuntu? Surely this can’t be happening…

]]> By: ni hao ma girl » free as in freedom http://andremalan.net/blog/2009/01/25/usability/comment-page-1/#comment-138 ni hao ma girl » free as in freedom Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:36:58 +0000 http://andremalan.net/?p=151#comment-138 [...] recently wrote an insightful blog post about open-source software and usability. I think that this applies to Stallman’s talk [...] [...] recently wrote an insightful blog post about open-source software and usability. I think that this applies to Stallman’s talk [...]

]]> By: Anya http://andremalan.net/blog/2009/01/25/usability/comment-page-1/#comment-134 Anya Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:33:07 +0000 http://andremalan.net/?p=151#comment-134 Great post, Andre! Kind of makes me want to try out Windows 7, too :P Great post, Andre!
Kind of makes me want to try out Windows 7, too :P

]]> By: Andre Malan http://andremalan.net/blog/2009/01/25/usability/comment-page-1/#comment-135 Andre Malan Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:52:16 +0000 http://andremalan.net/?p=151#comment-135 Hi Ian, I agree that having a centralized base does give the corporate companies some advantage. However, I think that would be mitigated by the sheer number of data that could be gathered by open source developers. Imagine if each developer working on Mozilla Firefox did a quick (collaboratively created) study on a few of their (non-programming) friends and family. Talking to actual users is arguably the hardest part of working in usability and I would argue that open source developers are much closer to users than corporate developers. Hi Ian, I agree that having a centralized base does give the corporate companies some advantage. However, I think that would be mitigated by the sheer number of data that could be gathered by open source developers. Imagine if each developer working on Mozilla Firefox did a quick (collaboratively created) study on a few of their (non-programming) friends and family. Talking to actual users is arguably the hardest part of working in usability and I would argue that open source developers are much closer to users than corporate developers.

]]> By: Ian Mikutel http://andremalan.net/blog/2009/01/25/usability/comment-page-1/#comment-136 Ian Mikutel Sun, 25 Jan 2009 08:48:10 +0000 http://andremalan.net/?p=151#comment-136 Great post, Andre. One of the biggest points here, as you mention, is that usability should be considered before most programming is hashed out, it certainly makes the process a whole lot easier. The biggest advantage I see corporate companies having with respect to usability, is a centralized base of operations from which to direct usability efforts from. In an open source community, I could see it being very difficult to bring any sort of cohesion into the picture from a usability standpoint. As someone who works in the usability field, it will be very interesting to see how the open source folks catch up. Great post, Andre.

One of the biggest points here, as you mention, is that usability should be considered before most programming is hashed out, it certainly makes the process a whole lot easier.

The biggest advantage I see corporate companies having with respect to usability, is a centralized base of operations from which to direct usability efforts from. In an open source community, I could see it being very difficult to bring any sort of cohesion into the picture from a usability standpoint.

As someone who works in the usability field, it will be very interesting to see how the open source folks catch up.

]]>