[SlugBug] Grokdoc - a usability study of GNU/Linux newbies

[Bill Best]

hi

good meeting the other night.  for those not there, i think maybe about 
12 peeps turned up.  must do it again sometime soonish.

erm, this sort of looks interesting:

> http://www.grokdoc.net/index.php/Main_Page
 >
> Welcome to GrokDoc's usability study of GNU/Linux newbies. Our goal
> is to create a useful manual on basic tasks that new users will find
> simple and clear and easy to follow, using what we learn from our study.
 >
> GrokDoc is an offshoot of Groklaw.
> 
> Our idea is this: instead of technically proficient people explaining
> tasks and functions to newbies, we let newbies show us what is hard for
> them. Proprietary software companies do such usability studies, and they
> benefit from the knowledge gained. The Free/Open Source community has all
> that we need to do the same, using the many eyeballs approach, so to speak.
> Open source ideals applied to research can be very powerful.
> 
> In order to accomplish our goal, we are requesting that you sit down with
> a friend or family member who has little (or ideally no) prior experience
> with GNU/Linux and observe them as they try any Linux distribution, watching
> and noting what they find difficult, so we will know what needs to be explained
> more clearly.

cheers

bb