https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=168735
Bug ID: 168735
Summary: Our solicitation bar on first run of a new version is
inadequate
Product: LibreOffice
Version: unspecified
Hardware: All
OS: All
Status: UNCONFIRMED
Severity: normal
Priority: medium
Component: Calc
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
Created attachment 203184
--> https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/attachment.cgi?id=203184&action=edit
Solicitation bar in LO Calc 25.8 first startup
When you install a new version of LO and open the app, on the first run you'll
get a bar at the top, which looks like in the attached screenshot.
For an ascii graphic, it's:
(i) Help us make LibreOffice even better [Get
Involved]
This is bad/inadequate in my opinion, for several reasons. I will not go into
potential drastic changes, like a pop-up dialog, or an extra document, or
window pane etc. - just a solicitation bar:
1. Doesn't explicitly suggest donating to LibreOffice.
------------------------------------------------------
The suggestion to either "help us" or "get involved" is not a request for
donations. Some people feel they can "help out", but others, and perhaps most
people, don't feel able to help as contributors, but may be willing to donate
money - which we don't ask them to. One might quip that "donation is a form of
helping or involvement", but only some minority of people would think that. At
least some place needs to have an explicit solicitation for money. It could be
the label, it could be the button, it could be a second button.
2. Bar design discourages action.
---------------------------------
The (i) and the muted blue coloring suggests the bar content is merely
_informational_, and does not actually requires or even encourages you to do
anything. Yes, the text may suggest otherwise, but the visual cue has its
effect.
3. The text paradoxically discourages action.
---------------------------------------------
The text says "Help us make LibreOffice even better!" - implying that that it
has already been made better. Whether we believe that is the case or not, that
dampens the initial instinct to act or help. Regardless of other changes to the
text or design, that should have been "Help us make LibreOffice better!"
4. Button is far from the text
------------------------------
(You see this even in the screenshot, but it's more prominent on the typically
wide screens of today.) You cannot, nor are encouraged to, click the (i) sign;
and you cannot, nor are you encouraged to, click the "Please help us text".
Your eyes are focused on them, and there's nothing to do. Now, it's true that
at the right edge there's a button. But it's far away, so it is perceived as
less important, appropriate to ignore.
5. There should be different action buttons
--------------------------------------------
At the very least, there should be a distinct button for donating and another
button for volunteering/participating/helping out.
6. The wording "Get Involved" is borderline deterring.
------------------------------------------------------
Consider for the dictionary definition of "involved" at dictionary.com [1]; it
is:
> 1. very intricate or complex. *an involved reply.*
> 2. implicated. *involved in crime.*
> 3. concerned in some affair, especially in a way likely to cause danger or
> unpleasantness. *I didn't call the police because I didn't want to get
> involved.*
> 4. committed or engaged, as in a political cause or artistic movement. *The
> civil rights demonstration attracted the involved young people of the area.*
the first one is neutral-or-negative, the next two are markedly negative, and
only the fourth sense is positive. That is _not_ the term we want to us, even
if we accurately fit that fourth definition.
The situation is rather similar if you look at other dictionaries, e.g.
Merriam-Webster [2].
7. No sense of urgency or need.
--------------------------------
Nothing in the text indicates how user donations are essential to the project;
or that the project is massively under-funded considering the huge workload. We
don't use phrases like "need you" or "keep alive" or "struggle", nor "critical"
or "crucial" or "necessary" etc. - and "help" is used as a verb rather than a
noun.
8. No indication why participation and/or donation is important
---------------------------------------------------------------
The bar does not say, nor does it (ostensibly) link to a statement regarding
why it is important for users to donate money or to participate otherwise. I
realize that may not be an easy goal to achieve in a narrow bar - but it is
what it is.
This least may not be exhaustive...
[1] : https://www.dictionary.com/browse/involved
[2] : https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/involved
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