You can always change this.

..or maybe not entirely, I just wanted to draw your attention to this interesting but rather not surprising post . Somebody asked a Windows non-geek user to use Ubuntu for first time (I understood). Kind of usability test it was.

When it came to the conclusions of that post, it said:

The main issue with the desktop experience is that the geeky programmers and designers assume too much from the average user. They assume the user knows about the way in which programs are installed, or how the file system is set out. The average user will not go out of their way to google for help or even read the associated documentation that comes with Ubuntu and its default software. The little information pop-ups and guided wizards are critical to explaining how the user can accomplish the basic tasks they most probably are trying to do.

And that’s the no news. We knew this before, didn’t we. We had that discussion anyway before . Still, I expect, somebody will be of that opinion “it has a nice GUI so it is easy.” It is still a long way.

When you want to find an equivalent of engagement in Finnish, you better don’t consult a dictionary. It becomes a truly linguistic journey.

First of all, I am not looking for meaning of engagement as a promise to marriage. I am after the meaning of the word in the domain of HCI, computing and gaming. As in ‘I was so engaged playing 8-puzzle that I forgot I am controlling it using my eyes only’. Or as in ‘We build a interactive system that is more engaging than just viewing the animation passively.’

It turns out that Finnish does not have a good translation –single word– describing the multidimensional meaning of ‘engagement’. Here are terms that we found corresponding only partly with the umbrella term of engagement:

aktiivisuus, aloitteellisuus, innostuneisuus, sitoutuneisuus, osallistuminen

None single of them is engagement. It would be interesting to do a study that would measure how much each of these terms describe/contributes to the original engagement. Something like ‘Rate the game in the following dimensions’. Any proposals?

I will be participating as a mentor in this year’s Season of Usability. SoU is a series of sponsored (up to $1000) projects where students interested in usability apply to work for three months with some open-source software to improve its usability. There are nine very interesting projects, have a look at the openings, and apply!