> We get a reasonable number of these, and I am sure that many > people do not > even ask, so we loose many users because they cannot figure this out. > > Can anyone offer a reasonable solution ?
This weekend, I did a very small usability study of the OOo download process with non-technical users. There were a lot of complaints & questions. From what I've read, things need to switch from technology oriented to user-centered design. JRE, download site, MD5sum? This is all above people who don't care about computers, and just want to use em. These are the people who are probably slowest to adopt OOo anyways, we want to make GETTING it as easy as possible, much less installing or using it. Some of their comments: "The multiple download sites for USA are confusing." "The average computer user would not want to do all these steps." "English should be the default choice. I bet the majority of their downloads are in English, why isn't that the first choice? I have to scroll way down for the sites. First I have to know geography, what's nearby, why don't they give me a map?" "I would never bother to verify a download with checksums. It just seems like it is being difficult for its own sake." (All American English speakers, I'm not saying all of their comments are valid). Here were some ideas: Maybe a direct link for the most popular download for average people, which I would assume is the Windows English version. 2 Got Java (JRE)? It's recommended but not required. Without it, some features will be missing. Linux (x86, I have Java now) JRE not included Linux (x86, I want Java) JRE included Windows (I have Java now) JRE not included Windows (I want Java) JRE included 3 Pick a server close to you. Any server will work. After the download has completed, you can verify its integrity. Also, if you have time check out my project which works on some of these problems: http://www.metalinker.org/ ant --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
