Anaconda/UX Redesign

Subpages

Usability

Usability Testing

We're going to be usability testing the new UI design in early 2013.

• Anaconda/UX Redesign/User Survey - User Survey given to testers before running the test.
• Anaconda/UX Redesign/Usability Test Scripts - Scripts for usability tests
• Anaconda/UX Redesign/Test Administrator Worksheet - Worksheets for test administrators to take notes on during the test.

Results

• Anaconda/UX Redesign/Usability Results Westford - summary of the Westford usability test results (4 participants, experienced system adminstrators)
• File:Brno-Session1-Rreport.pdf - Brno usability tests, session #1 report by Filip Kosik
• Anaconda/UX Redesign/Usability Test Suggestions - suggestions for improvement made based on usability test session results (Brno & Westford)

Feedback Review

We're also analyzing feedback about the installer from Fedora 18's release and categorizing it to understand where users are running into issues.

• Anaconda/UX Redesign/Press and Blog Coding - Coded set of press & blog feedback.

Development / Testing

• Work List - things you could be working on
• Testability - what works
• UX Questions - have a question about how the UI should handle something? log it here so we don't lose track
• Error Messages - error messages from the F16 UI, with notes on the context and how maybe better to handle them

Design Document

• Discussion - notes from IRC brainstorming sessions with rationale, etc. on various decisions
• Design Comments 1 - feedback from physical posting of mockups
• RAID Redesign - Redesign of RAID interface in Anaconda

Ideas / Brainstorms / Mockups

Whiteboards... mockup ideas... sketches... diagrams... brainstorms.. whatever :)

• Testing Plan new
• Syslinux whiteboard
• Anaconda Visual Design Whiteboard
• Anaconda Language-Keyboard Design Whiteboard
• Anaconda Storage Re-initialization Whiteboard
• Anaconda sudo-by-default Whiteboard
• Location in Anaconda Whiteboard
• Anaconda Comic
  • http://duffy.fedorapeople.org/app%20design/anaconda/comic/anaconda-comic_1.png
  • Source: http://duffy.fedorapeople.org/app%20design/anaconda/comic/anaconda-comic_1.svg

Whiteboard Directory

Fedora 14 Install Process

• Fedora 14 Live Media Install Process - a screen-by-screen walkthrough of the LiveMedia install process.
• Fedora 14 DVD Install Process - a screen-by-screen walkthrough of the DVD install process.
• Current Install Process Analysis - analysis of the walkthroughs, as well as some questions & answers with the Anaconda technical team.

Resources

• clumen's ui tech notes
• dcantrell's writeup of other OS installers
• James Laska's list of supported Anaconda paths
• October 2010 devel-list thread
• clumen's dialog list]
• Pre-Redesign User Feedback - lots of comments and suggestions from users about the install process from before we started the redesign.

Goals

1. make the defaults work such that you can just click next all the way through
2. reduce the number of questions to just the important stuff.

Where does choice happen?

1. Different spins
2. Boot menu option (default=easy and an "advanced" option)
3. Selection screen when anaconda starts
4. "advanced" buttons in the anaconda pages
5. PackageKit post-install

Questions

• Does live media allow to choose language for the installation? (Does the language choice during the USB stick bootup affect installer language?)
  • Yes. Choosing a language in gdm makes anaconda use it and it becomes the installed system's default. I installed f14 from a live usb in Spanish and that's the default lang now. --Ivancjimenez 21:56, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
• Some better fonts & control over syslinux's appearance might be nice. gfxboot (by the SuSE folks) seems to enable this. Is it something reasonable to consider trying? http://syslinux.zytor.com/wiki/index.php/GFXBoot.c32
  • Haven't really considered it; willing to try it (pjones)
  • Update We took a look and hpa does not recommend using gfxboot. Instead, we can definitely work with syslinux's theming to get it looking nice. See http://mairin.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/fedora-installation-user-experience-improvements-syslinux/
• Can you opt-out of firstboot?
  • Yes, you can in the kickstart file. However, if you opt-out of first boot and don't create a user in the kickstart file, you will not be able to use graphical log-in because GDM forbids root logins.
  • You can get a functional system without firstboot, however.

Use Cases

• Offline installation
• l10n / non-English speakers (see Test_Day:2010-09-16_AnacondaTranslationKeyboard)
  • "Very difficult to select non-US language and keyboard"
  • "Back button selects US English keyboard, even though I have now specified UK keyboard *twice*"
• keyboard shortcuts / no mouse
• install of virt machines
• Live image
  • "I believe the Ubuntu installer under discussion is the live installer. Like Fedora, there is no package selection involved there. Ubuntu gains considerable simplicity by having a separate installer app for live images and making that its default installer - I'm no expert, but I think the 'advanced' installer you can use for network installs and custom package selection and LVM and RAID and all that stuff is essentially Debian's installer, and is a completely different experience to the Ubuntu installer."
• Dual-boot (second neighbor or first neighbor)
  • "user wants to either replace the current System completely or install the distribution into free space on his HD and but into either the old or the new installed system."
• text-mode
• various storage use-cases:
  • RAID
  • LVM
  • BTRFS
  • advanced storage devices
  • etc.