Interview with an existing Gnome user
Summary
This report encapsulates the findings from an interview conducted with an existing GNOME user, aiming to identify usability issues, gather user feedback, and generate actionable insights for the improvement of the GNOME desktop environment. Through a meticulous research design and execution process, this study employed qualitative methods to deeply understand user experiences, preferences, and challenges.
INTERVIEW DETAILS
Name: Dorcas Owolabi
Research Date: 25-03-2024
PARTICIPANT'S DETAILS
Name: Waldir Pimenta
Location: Braga, Portugal.
Age: 38 years
Occupation: Software Engineer(Backend)
Gnome app used: Almost everything for 16 years(Ubuntu 23.10 with GNOME 45.0)
Research Ethics:
The user was informed about the research objectives, his rights as an interviewee, and confidentiality measures through a preliminary email, ensuring an ethical research framework.
Research Design:
A qualitative research design utilizing semi-structured interviews was implemented to collect nuanced insights from the participant, allowing for the exploration of emergent themes and fostering an environment where the user could freely express their experiences and opinions.
Interview Technique:
The interview was structured with open-ended, non-leading questions, complemented by active listening to encourage detailed elaboration of the user's perspectives, ensuring a thorough understanding of their experiences.
Usability Issues and Design Conventions:
Feedback indicated usability challenges, particularly around limited customizability options. A specific example mentioned was the lack of keyboard shortcuts for accessing the file manager, highlighting a need for greater flexibility in user controls.
Design Terminology and Vocabulary:
The user's experiences and interface interactions were described using precise design terminology, such as affordances, and feedback loops, to accurately convey their impact on usability and user satisfaction.
Setting Goals:
The research aimed to uncover usability issues and collect feedback directly from users to guide enhancements in the GNOME environment.
Planning:
Recruitment targeted existing GNOME users through community forums, and youtube reviews of Gnome app , with interview questions crafted to align with the research goals.
Execution:
The interview was conducted via Google Meet, chosen for its convenience and ability to facilitate a comfortable and flexible discussion environment, but the recording was not audible enough, so detailed comprehensive notes captured the essence of user feedback and observations.
Reporting:
The report organizes findings thematically, enhancing readability through clear sections and visual demonstrations of issues highlighted by the user.
Evaluation:
The user appreciated GNOME's consistency and the text spacing within buttons, avoiding the need for resizing. Criticisms focused on limited customization options, particularly the inability to modify keyboard actions for more efficient navigation.
Recommendation Next Time:
The user recommended conducting research inquiries following every GNOME app release, utilizing more targeted probing questions to acquire more profound insights into user behaviors and preferences.
Translating Findings:
Enhancement Recommendations for GNOME:
Optimize Menu Structures: To enhance user efficiency, it's recommended to overhaul the menu layouts for better clarity and incorporate keyboard shortcuts for key functions.
Improve the Clipboard Extension: The Clipboard extension, intended to simplify managing clipboard history and the transfer of data between apps, currently falls short of delivering a seamless experience. It requires enhancements to become more intuitive and less cumbersome.
Revamp Window Management: For a more intuitive approach to screen organization, upgrading the window management system is suggested. Adopting a grid layout, inspired by Linux Mint, could significantly aid in efficient multitasking.
Redesign the System Monitor: Located in the desktop's top right corner and monitoring essential system metrics such as memory usage, CPU activity, and network status, the System Monitor is overly complex and daunting. A redesign to simplify its interface would make it more accessible and less intimidating for users.
These recommendations are derived from user feedback, aiming to significantly improve GNOME's usability and user satisfaction.
Detailing User Experiences:
The user voiced frustrations with current window management capabilities, while also expressing satisfaction with the image viewer, speed, and simplicity of the user interface in the latest GNOME version.
Recommendations:
The user suggested that GNOME should be tested more on the problems found, listen to what users say they need, and keep making small changes to get better. For example, GNOME could let users see files easily by dragging them, make it simple to find and manage files, and add useful tools like timers and alarms to the desktop. These changes aim to make users happier and more productive with GNOME.
Interview questions
- Brief introduction of yourself.
- How long have you been using GNOME and what version?
- What Gnome app do you use mostly and why?
- Are there any aspects of the GNOME design that you find particularly appealing or frustrating?
- What features or tools do you think are missing from GNOME that could enhance your user experience?
- Is there anything you've seen in other desktop environments that you wish GNOME had?
- Looking toward the future, what changes or improvements would you most like to see in GNOME?
- Do you have any additional comments or suggestions that you feel haven't been covered in this interview?
- Please can you walk me through your typical workflow with GNOME?(short recording)