[Foundation-l] Usability Study Results (Sneak Preview)

[Parul Vora]

Hi all!

The Wikipedia Usability Initiative conducted a user research study with 
SF based Bolt Peters in late March to uncover barriers new editors face. 
We are in the process of completing a full report on our methodology, 
process and analysis, but wanted to share with you some of the major 
themes and findings in the meantime....


Some quotes from our participants that illustrate these findings:

“Usually it’s the most information in the easiest spot to access. It 
always looks very well put together….it boggles my mind how many people 
can contribute and it still looks like an encyclopedia.” – ‘Galen’

“I like Wikipedia because it’s plain text and nothing flashes” – ‘Claudia’

“Rather than making a mess, I’d rather take some time to figure out how 
to do it right."
(later) "There sure is a lot of stuff to read.” – ‘Dan’

“ [I felt] kind of stupid.” – ‘Galen’

“It’d be nice to have a GUI, so you could see what you’re editing. 
You’ve made these changes and you’re looking at it, and you don’t know 
how it’s going to look on the page. It’s a little clumsy to see how it’s 
going to look.” – ‘Bryan’

“[This is] where I’d give up.” – ‘Shaun’


Check out the full post on the foundation blog:
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2009/04/24/usability-study-results-sneak-preview/


We would love to hear any initial thoughts, opinions, and reactions. If 
you have any similar or dissimilar experiences - either personally or in 
your own work/research, we'd love to hear about that too!


Always on your side,
The Usability Team