OK, before we get into details about the mockup, let me explain a bit about my "come from", that is, what general heuristics I have in my brain, that I am using when I am evaluating the install experience (including the prototype mockup).
This requires some introspection, and so I may have missed one or two, but here are the main heuristics I think I'm using (in random order): 1) LOOK & FEEL Does it look and feel professional/exciting/interesting/modern? Does it sound interesting/exciting (e.g. does it have a professional startup sound?) Does it make good use of screen real estate? Or? Does? It? Ask? Me? A? Bunch? Of? Related? Questions? On? Separate? Pages? Does it use unambiguous, correct, standard English (insert your preferred language here, of course)? Does it feel simple, straightforward, clean, understandable, welcoming? When I install it, do I feel like I'm part of something larger? Something cool? Is there anything here that I haven't seen before? 2) SAFETY Does it feel "safe", like I can't really screw it up? (e.g. does it let me know that I can undo the decision later, if I don't like it? Conversely, does it tell me when operations are not un-doable, and ask me to confirm?) 3) EASY TO DO THE RIGHT THING Does it "Make It Easy to Do the Right Thing? (Is help available, without losing my place? Are appropriate suggestions or defaults provided everywhere possible? Could a brand new developer, like a high-school student, do this installation? Could somebody who has done a Windows XP installation, do this installation?) 4) HARD TO DO THE WRONG THING And, the corollary: does it "Make It Hard to Do the Wrong Thing"? (e.g. if my root passwords don't match, maybe it shouldn't let me click on NEXT> at all? if I don't say "I agree" to the license, don't let me click NEXT> either?) 5) TIME WASTING Does it waste my time? (e.g. does it ask for things that the computer already knows, say, because it already asked, or because it could have just pinged the network for me rather than asking?, Or, does it ask me whether I want DHCP (yes), and then ask me to type in IP addresses for my DNS server? If I make a mistake, does it make me go all the way back to the beginning to correct it, and then all the way back to the end? Does it ask me questions about things that most people don't care about, e.g. Kerberos?) 6) MENTAL MODEL Do I have a good feel for what is being done right now, and how much longer it will take? (e.g. for long operations, is there a progress bar? Not just an "infinite" progress bar, which is better than nothing, but a real "here's how long you have to wait" bar or indicator? Are there blank screens or frozen/unchanging screens for more than 1 second? Are there long-running spinning cursors? Do I have a breadcrumb trail, so I know where I am in the overall process? Do I have time to go get a drink at this point in the install?) In Sarah's terminology, I would say that these are all "look and feel" and "flow of control" heuristics that I use. Does anybody have any other favorites? Mike This message posted from opensolaris.org
