KDE and Usability

With Open Source Software gaining in popularity the overall demographic of the user base is shifting and hence the demands on the software is also changing. To ensure that the software continues to serve all of its users, including those that have recently become users, as effectively as possible requires some serious thought and actions towards enhanced usability.

This talk will concentrate on the challenges that arise while working to improve usability in KDE, how those challenges are being addressed, and to detail various initiatives that have or will be put in place to reach the goal of enhanced usability.

The following topics will be covered:

• How usability testing can be coordinated and effectively carried out in an OSS project in light of the traditionally decentralized nature of such projects, wherein participants are located around the world and working on different schedules and from different agendas.
• The initiatives that we have implemented or plan to implement to improve usability within KDE and it's applications including:
• • Developer Checklists
  • Usability Certification for individual applications
  • Usability Studies and Usability Report Tracking & Management.
• Various Quality Assurance efforts that are currently underway to introduce certain aspects of QA into KDE development that by and large haven't existed previously, and how these same efforts could be applied to other OSS projects.
• Examples of key usability improvements to date in KDE, such as the current work being done on the Control Center.