I spoke to some Taiwanese students learning English (with help from a translator) about Wikipedia, Wikimedia and mobile. Age range was 17-35 so quite a mix. I was hoping I'd find some developers in the room but sadly no so I focused the talk around using the mobile site.
Interestingly everyone here used Wikipedia, but when I asked them if they used the mobile site of Wikipedia they all said no. When I probed more I discovered "Google" was where they got their information. I managed to confirm that they were going to Wikipedia but most of them didn't realise.
Some things I notice: * They actually were disappointed they couldn't upload images anymore. Most wanted to edit but didn't know how. Post wikigrok it would be interesting to see if we can use the saving mechanism there to queue up uploads to the site. * When I showed them Listen To Wikipedia they got really excited and registered straight away just to see their name. Interesting tactic we might want to explore for signups :) * They struggled with the captcha when registering (surprise surprise). It's English words not Chinese words. I notice everyone has WiFi passwords here that are numbers. It would be interesting to explore captchas that involve numbers if that is at all possible. * In the language overlay in 3 out of 3 cases where people have used it they all seemed to scroll down, no one realises they can search for the language at the top. That's a UX problem I guess we need to fix. * When they have flicked from Chinese to English Wikipedia and then use the search bar at the top of the page to search for information they type in chinese and expect search terms to show up there. * They didn't seem to recognise the hamburger as a menu icon * They asked to edit and surprise surprise I saw lots of templates in every example I tried. The keys to the templates are English e.g. in infoboxes. I think this makes a strong argument for being able to edit infoboxes from wikidata (I've got an example below).
Today is my last day working remotely from China but I'm happy on my travels to do anymore Chinese research if you find this interesting and want to know more about potential Wikipedians here :)
Example infobox: {{Taxobox | color = pink | name = 斑尾鹃鸠 | status = LC | status_system = iucn3.1 | image = MacropygiaUnchall.jpg | regnum = [[动物界]] Animalia | phylum = [[脊索动物门]] Chordata | classis = [[鸟纲]] Aves | ordo = [[鸽形目]] Columbiformes | familia = [[鸠鸽科]] Columbidae | genus = [[鹃鸠属]] ''Macropygia'' | species = '''斑尾鹃鸠 ''M. unchall''''' | binomial = ''Macropygia unchall'' | binomial_authority = (Wagler)<ref name='id2051'>{{cite web | url = http://www.bioinfo.cn/db05/BjdwSpecies.php?action=view&id=2051 | title = 斑尾鹃鸠 | work = 《中国动物物种编目数据库》 | publisher = 中国科学院微生物研究所 | author = 中国科学院动物研究所 | accessdate = 2009-04-04 }}</ref> }}
Very interesting, thanks.
I believe that Stephen LaPorte had a role in creating Listen to Wikipedia, so I'm including him in this email thread with the hope that he will be pleased to hear about this use of his work (:
Pine On Nov 23, 2014 4:20 PM, "Jon Robson" jdlrobson@gmail.com wrote:
I spoke to some Taiwanese students learning English (with help from a translator) about Wikipedia, Wikimedia and mobile. Age range was 17-35 so quite a mix. I was hoping I'd find some developers in the room but sadly no so I focused the talk around using the mobile site.
Interestingly everyone here used Wikipedia, but when I asked them if they used the mobile site of Wikipedia they all said no. When I probed more I discovered "Google" was where they got their information. I managed to confirm that they were going to Wikipedia but most of them didn't realise.
Some things I notice:
- They actually were disappointed they couldn't upload images anymore.
Most wanted to edit but didn't know how. Post wikigrok it would be interesting to see if we can use the saving mechanism there to queue up uploads to the site.
- When I showed them Listen To Wikipedia they got really excited and
registered straight away just to see their name. Interesting tactic we might want to explore for signups :)
- They struggled with the captcha when registering (surprise
surprise). It's English words not Chinese words. I notice everyone has WiFi passwords here that are numbers. It would be interesting to explore captchas that involve numbers if that is at all possible.
- In the language overlay in 3 out of 3 cases where people have used
it they all seemed to scroll down, no one realises they can search for the language at the top. That's a UX problem I guess we need to fix.
- When they have flicked from Chinese to English Wikipedia and then
use the search bar at the top of the page to search for information they type in chinese and expect search terms to show up there.
- They didn't seem to recognise the hamburger as a menu icon
- They asked to edit and surprise surprise I saw lots of templates in
every example I tried. The keys to the templates are English e.g. in infoboxes. I think this makes a strong argument for being able to edit infoboxes from wikidata (I've got an example below).
Today is my last day working remotely from China but I'm happy on my travels to do anymore Chinese research if you find this interesting and want to know more about potential Wikipedians here :)
Example infobox: {{Taxobox | color = pink | name = 斑尾鹃鸠 | status = LC | status_system = iucn3.1 | image = MacropygiaUnchall.jpg | regnum = [[动物界]] Animalia | phylum = [[脊索动物门]] Chordata | classis = [[鸟纲]] Aves | ordo = [[鸽形目]] Columbiformes | familia = [[鸠鸽科]] Columbidae | genus = [[鹃鸠属]] ''Macropygia'' | species = '''斑尾鹃鸠 ''M. unchall''''' | binomial = ''Macropygia unchall'' | binomial_authority = (Wagler)<ref name='id2051'>{{cite web | url = http://www.bioinfo.cn/db05/BjdwSpecies.php?action=view&id=2051 | title = 斑尾鹃鸠 | work = 《中国动物物种编目数据库》 | publisher = 中国科学院微生物研究所 | author = 中国科学院动物研究所 | accessdate = 2009-04-04 }}</ref> }}
Mobile-l mailing list Mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mobile-l
yeh I emailed Stephen separately :) On 24 Nov 2014 09:24, "Pine W" wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Very interesting, thanks.
I believe that Stephen LaPorte had a role in creating Listen to Wikipedia, so I'm including him in this email thread with the hope that he will be pleased to hear about this use of his work (:
Pine On Nov 23, 2014 4:20 PM, "Jon Robson" jdlrobson@gmail.com wrote:
I spoke to some Taiwanese students learning English (with help from a translator) about Wikipedia, Wikimedia and mobile. Age range was 17-35 so quite a mix. I was hoping I'd find some developers in the room but sadly no so I focused the talk around using the mobile site.
Interestingly everyone here used Wikipedia, but when I asked them if they used the mobile site of Wikipedia they all said no. When I probed more I discovered "Google" was where they got their information. I managed to confirm that they were going to Wikipedia but most of them didn't realise.
Some things I notice:
- They actually were disappointed they couldn't upload images anymore.
Most wanted to edit but didn't know how. Post wikigrok it would be interesting to see if we can use the saving mechanism there to queue up uploads to the site.
- When I showed them Listen To Wikipedia they got really excited and
registered straight away just to see their name. Interesting tactic we might want to explore for signups :)
- They struggled with the captcha when registering (surprise
surprise). It's English words not Chinese words. I notice everyone has WiFi passwords here that are numbers. It would be interesting to explore captchas that involve numbers if that is at all possible.
- In the language overlay in 3 out of 3 cases where people have used
it they all seemed to scroll down, no one realises they can search for the language at the top. That's a UX problem I guess we need to fix.
- When they have flicked from Chinese to English Wikipedia and then
use the search bar at the top of the page to search for information they type in chinese and expect search terms to show up there.
- They didn't seem to recognise the hamburger as a menu icon
- They asked to edit and surprise surprise I saw lots of templates in
every example I tried. The keys to the templates are English e.g. in infoboxes. I think this makes a strong argument for being able to edit infoboxes from wikidata (I've got an example below).
Today is my last day working remotely from China but I'm happy on my travels to do anymore Chinese research if you find this interesting and want to know more about potential Wikipedians here :)
Example infobox: {{Taxobox | color = pink | name = 斑尾鹃鸠 | status = LC | status_system = iucn3.1 | image = MacropygiaUnchall.jpg | regnum = [[动物界]] Animalia | phylum = [[脊索动物门]] Chordata | classis = [[鸟纲]] Aves | ordo = [[鸽形目]] Columbiformes | familia = [[鸠鸽科]] Columbidae | genus = [[鹃鸠属]] ''Macropygia'' | species = '''斑尾鹃鸠 ''M. unchall''''' | binomial = ''Macropygia unchall'' | binomial_authority = (Wagler)<ref name='id2051'>{{cite web | url = http://www.bioinfo.cn/db05/BjdwSpecies.php?action=view&id=2051 | title = 斑尾鹃鸠 | work = 《中国动物物种编目数据库》 | publisher = 中国科学院微生物研究所 | author = 中国科学院动物研究所 | accessdate = 2009-04-04 }}</ref> }}
Mobile-l mailing list Mobile-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mobile-l
2014-11-24 2:20 GMT+02:00 Jon Robson jdlrobson@gmail.com:
- They struggled with the captcha when registering (surprise
surprise). It's English words not Chinese words. I notice everyone has WiFi passwords here that are numbers. It would be interesting to explore captchas that involve numbers if that is at all possible.
A lot of sites have numbers for CAPTCHAs.
A lot of sites don't have CAPTCHAs at all :)
- In the language overlay in 3 out of 3 cases where people have used
it they all seemed to scroll down, no one realises they can search for the language at the top. That's a UX problem I guess we need to fix.
While you're at it, could you please keep this in mind, too? - http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Interlanguage_links/September_2014
- They didn't seem to recognise the hamburger as a menu icon
I would really love to read more research about it. We're really not alone with the hamburger: a lot of mobile sites use it, and the mobile style is becoming so ubiquitous that it's used on desktop sites, too. You mobile devs probably know this much better than I do ;)
And yet, when I talk to people about Wikipedia and show them the mobile site and the VE, which also has a hamburger icon (page options, categories), they are baffled by this icon's meaninglessness.
Maybe it works in some cultures and doesn't work in others? And maybe its ubiquity is based more on a designers' meme than on actual usefulness to people?
-- Amir
Amir. Someone must have done a study on this... I still remember the day I had someone join us in IRC asking why you couldn't sign in on mobile. I explained it was behind the menu and then realised the problem was he hadn't realised the hamburger was a menu button. I probed to try and understand where he was from but he left angrily thinking I was trolling him trying to make him feel even more stupid :-(
Note to self: Investigate event logging for hamburger across different language projects and reply to this thread with analysis in comparison to search/language feature to identify projects where this may be a problem.
On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 5:05 PM, Amir E. Aharoni amir.aharoni@mail.huji.ac.il wrote:
2014-11-24 2:20 GMT+02:00 Jon Robson jdlrobson@gmail.com:
- They struggled with the captcha when registering (surprise
surprise). It's English words not Chinese words. I notice everyone has WiFi passwords here that are numbers. It would be interesting to explore captchas that involve numbers if that is at all possible.
A lot of sites have numbers for CAPTCHAs.
A lot of sites don't have CAPTCHAs at all :)
- In the language overlay in 3 out of 3 cases where people have used
it they all seemed to scroll down, no one realises they can search for the language at the top. That's a UX problem I guess we need to fix.
While you're at it, could you please keep this in mind, too? - http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Interlanguage_links/September_2014
- They didn't seem to recognise the hamburger as a menu icon
I would really love to read more research about it. We're really not alone with the hamburger: a lot of mobile sites use it, and the mobile style is becoming so ubiquitous that it's used on desktop sites, too. You mobile devs probably know this much better than I do ;)
And yet, when I talk to people about Wikipedia and show them the mobile site and the VE, which also has a hamburger icon (page options, categories), they are baffled by this icon's meaninglessness.
Maybe it works in some cultures and doesn't work in others? And maybe its ubiquity is based more on a designers' meme than on actual usefulness to people?
-- Amir
Very interesting, thanks a lot.
Jon Robson, 24/11/2014 01:20:
Interestingly everyone here used Wikipedia, but when I asked them if they used the mobile site of Wikipedia they all said no. When I probed more I discovered "Google" was where they got their information. I managed to confirm that they were going to Wikipedia but most of them didn't realise.
Adding a Wikipedia logo or wordmark somewhere may help. It's really difficult to realise you're on Wikipedia. In general, the mobile sites almost look ashamed of being Wikimedia projects.
Nemo
It would also be good to make the distinction between us and Wikitravel. I noticed they are using MobileFrontend now (very old version) so it might confuse people. I know there is a bug somewhere for doing this. Jared may be able to point us at it or maybe Florian since I remember him poking at it recently (patches welcomed)!
On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 5:40 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemowiki@gmail.com wrote:
Very interesting, thanks a lot.
Jon Robson, 24/11/2014 01:20:
Interestingly everyone here used Wikipedia, but when I asked them if they used the mobile site of Wikipedia they all said no. When I probed more I discovered "Google" was where they got their information. I managed to confirm that they were going to Wikipedia but most of them didn't realise.
Adding a Wikipedia logo or wordmark somewhere may help. It's really difficult to realise you're on Wikipedia. In general, the mobile sites almost look ashamed of being Wikimedia projects.
Nemo
here is the task — https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T65978
*Jared Zimmerman * \ Director of User Experience \ Wikimedia Foundation
M +1 415 609 4043 \ @jaredzimmerman http://loo.ms/g0
On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 2:14 AM, Jon Robson jdlrobson@gmail.com wrote:
It would also be good to make the distinction between us and Wikitravel. I noticed they are using MobileFrontend now (very old version) so it might confuse people. I know there is a bug somewhere for doing this. Jared may be able to point us at it or maybe Florian since I remember him poking at it recently (patches welcomed)!
On Mon, Nov 24, 2014 at 5:40 PM, Federico Leva (Nemo) nemowiki@gmail.com wrote:
Very interesting, thanks a lot.
Jon Robson, 24/11/2014 01:20:
Interestingly everyone here used Wikipedia, but when I asked them if they used the mobile site of Wikipedia they all said no. When I probed more I discovered "Google" was where they got their information. I managed to confirm that they were going to Wikipedia but most of them didn't realise.
Adding a Wikipedia logo or wordmark somewhere may help. It's really difficult to realise you're on Wikipedia. In general, the mobile sites almost look ashamed of being Wikimedia projects.
Nemo
-- Jon Robson