Microsoft Vista: A Usability Problem

MICROSOFT VISTA A USABILITY PROBLEM? Cate Huston Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Popularity More than 20 million copies in the ﬁrst month Double XP Really? Market Share Counting July 2007: Revenue predictions downgraded 85% to 78% Tuesday, October 13, 2009

You Can Still Buy XP HP, July 2008: Majority of Business PCs come with a Vista Business License ... and XP Pre-loaded Dell, October 2008: “Windows Vista® BONUS” ... also known as XP (and option to upgrade) Netbooks ... can’t run Vista Tuesday, October 13, 2009

I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC Microsoft concerned about Mac comparisons from 2005 Apple capitalized on this with their “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” ads Microsoft created some “bizarre” ads featuring Seinfeld and Bill Gates himself in response Widely derided in the blogsphere Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Usability Guidelines and Implications Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design? Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks? Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency? Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors? Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design? Utility, Neilsen: “It matters little that something is easy if it's not what you want. It's also no good if the system can hypothetically do what you want, but you can't make it happen because the user interface is too difficult” Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Taking a Broader View of Usability Strong business case for usable software What about usability to the people who install and maintain? Consumability: “a successful product should provide value quickly and painlessly after its acquisition” Installation Migration Training Testing Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quality Components of Usability: Learnability Training Length of time Number of trainers Big eﬀect on cost-eﬀectiveness Deployment and Networking Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quality Components of Usability: Efficiency Businesses invariably want to increase productivity OS is not task orientated; difficult to measure and quantify the effect on productivity Likely to vary dramatically, e.g. Search Repair and Diagnosis Set-up Importance depends on stability of network Cost Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quality Components of Usability: Memorability Should not be a big issue, except for: Long period of leave, sabbatical or maternity If running two OSes in parallel Increasing or ﬂuctuating networks Installation Infrequent but rapid expansions Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quality Components of Usability: Errors Does the average user know what the OS does? Errors are likely to intimidate them Support for errors, help desk etc Business costs associated with this Could cause delays in time-sensitive or business-critical tasks Installation, Networking, User Errors Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quality Components of Usability: Satisfaction Little impact on business costs Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quality Components of Usability: Utility An OS does not do what users need, i.e. it has poor utility if: Bespoke / non-standard software does not work Peripherals do not work It runs so slowly that productivity is impacted. Can the vast majority of users can do everything they need to do? Running a dual system Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Quality Components of Usability: Implications Usability problems compounded in this broader context Peripheral Drivers Running a Dual System Distinguish between Business Usability and Cost eﬀectiveness Usability problems have implications to cost Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ubiquity A computer in every home? January 2007: 65% of Americans spent more time with their home computer than their spouse By 2011 every 7-19 year old in England will have access to broadband internet at home Broad spectrum of users Hard to categorize Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Home Users What is an “average user”? Basic level of computer literacy Read and send email, use the web, write papers Mostly used to access the internet Cloud computing Netbooks Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Home Users: Problems “Complex” things Error messages XP DRM Need a new computer to run Vista UK Times, 2006: “fewer than 5% of UK households would have a suﬃciently powerful PC to run the full version of Ultimate” Alternatives Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Gamers Games Performance Graphics Intensive Graphics chip, video card, processor(s) Modding Sound and performance issues Alternatives: consoles Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Power Users “A power user is a user of a personal computer who can use advanced features of programs which are outside the expertise of "normal" users, yet is not capable of advanced, non application-oriented tasks like programming and may or may not be capable of system administration.” Chris Pirillo: 52 minutes Lots of software Speciﬁc needs and expectations Computer is “crucial” to work Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Power Users: Problems Personalized set-up Time consuming Applications and peripherals, not a programmer Pirillo: “I can't live in Vista if the software that I use in my life for productivity does not work” Feedback ignored, Pirillo: “Microsoft Windows completely abandoned its power users, period” 5 years of XP Alternatives Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Businesses Many types of user Wide range of computer-literacy levels Broad set of problems Problems compounded Bespoke or industry-speciﬁc applications The person who sets up the computer is not the person who uses it. Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Costs December 2006: half the average business PCs would not run the lower end versions of Vista 6% would run Vista premium RAM upgrades Continental: conﬁgured to look like XP Intel: “no compelling case for adopting Vista” IBM: move to Linux Some companies skipping Vista: not recommended Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Pricing and Competition Amazon Prices down by an average of 17.9% Business: cut in excess of 30% Speed up adoption after SP1 China: only 244 sold in the ﬁrst two weeks Governments move to OS because of pricing India, France, Munich Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Improving the User Experience Windows 95 Iteration, rapid prototyping, user testing “There’s a lot to like” Security, power, performance, graphics, wireless networking, search... But... “Favoring security and IT controls over end user productivity” High system requirements, User Account Control, secure desktop, networking, start menu design, versions and prices, lack of originality Poor UI design, insuﬃciently thought through features and changes Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Not Improving the User Experience Software Protection Platform Unscrupulous resellers Server Outage Mojave Improve perception, rather than UE “Vista Capable” “$2,100 email machine” Development has not progressed with expectations Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Security Secure Development Life Cycle Conﬂicting reports Norman: “The more thorough the demands of security, the less secure the result” Compromises on security to improve usability Avoid annoying the user to the point they disable it. Tuesday, October 13, 2009

User Account Control “And take User Account Control (UAC), please. No seriously, please take it. And kill it. And stomp on its dead body. And then hang it on a ﬂag pole as a warning to others” Response to real problems Toned down to reﬂect usability issues Similar to the Mac security password prompt Keep users safe, not punish Tuesday, October 13, 2009

User Account Control Issues Designed to “annoy users” UAC can prevent applications from running Is it usable? Positive review: twice a day Is it secure? Social engineering Invisibly secure Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Conclusions Many improvements, including in usability Poor consumability Poor perception spread virally Lack of momentum above standard resistance to change Competition and implications Recession Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Back to the Average User Do we know who the average user is? Does Microsoft? Tuesday, October 13, 2009

References Full paper and reference list available at: http://vista.kitty.letterboxes.org/ Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Microsoft Vista: A Usability Problem

by Cate Huston

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