RE : [Usability]Insert/overwrite, how should i do a usability study?

["Joaquin Cuenca Abela" <e98cuenc free fr>]

A good hint is to use a vertical bar as cursor if you're in insert mode,
and a full block if you're in overwrite mode.  Much less subtle than the
INS in the status bar...

Cheers,

Alan wrote:
> 
> I would very much like help and advice on how to setup a 
> usability study, as I am having difficulty convince people of 
> my concerns.
> 
> http://bugzilla.abisource.com/show_bug.cgi?id=3641
> (dammit, Dom closed it again already!)
> 
> I have observed many many times users who have accidentally 
> gone from Insert mode (INS) to Overwrite mode (OVR) by 
> accidentally hitting the insert key.  It seems to me like a 
> question that everyone asks at least once.  It is quite hard 
> for a user to identify and diagnose the problem on their own.
> 
> If a user has been randomly hitting lots of keys on the 
> keyboard to see what happens they can by trial and error 
> discover which key they need to use to reverse the situation.
> 
> If a user has in the course of their work accidentally hit 
> the insert key they will not realize how they have gotten 
> into this situation.
> 
> It is possible [1] but unlikely that users will guess the 
> terms Insert/Overwrite but even so, it is difficult to find 
> the necessary documentation (assuming it exists).
> 
> Better documentation would ease this situation, but it would 
> be even better if users did not have to look up the 
> documentation (I am trying to reach for a quote from 
> Designing Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen, i read something 
> about this only this morning).
> 
> I don't think changing from INS to OVR is appropriate without 
> more feedback to the user.  The INS/OVR message is the status 
> bar is cryptic and subtle (in general Acronyms and 
> Abbreviations are Evil), it may go unnoticed and user might 
> not connect the
> 
> For a usability study i could get users to turn away and put 
> the computer into overwrite mode and see how they solve the 
> problem, but this seems almost to crude and almost too easy. 
> I know i would need to record the study, if i have a it well 
> prepared pen and paper observations might be enough.  if 
> there was some way to record what was happening on screen 
> would be good.
> 
> Perhaps i should be making this suggestion to the Sun people 
> working on OpenOffice rather than Abiword?
> 
> I would like to do this properly and scientifically even if 
> that means not getting the results i want.  Advice welcome.
> 
> Sincerely
> 
> Alan Horkan
> http://advogato.org/person/AlanHorkan/
> 
> [1] http://abisource.com/mailinglists/abiword-user/2003/Jan/0064.html
> 
> Abiword, Microsoft Word, StarOffice Writer, OpenOffice.org 
> Writer, Corel WordPerfect, Kwrite and just about every other 
> word processor are all similarly unhelpful in this situation.
> 
> 
> 
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