What are we doing wrong?

[Kyle Nitzsche]

Daniel Bo wrote:
> Shaun,
>
> Unless a system operates exactly the way a user expects it to, users
> will need to read the help files. We have determined through years of
> forum and IRC comments that yes, people need help -- that Ubuntu
> doesn't operate the way they expect it to. Few use the help, though,
> because they don't really expect it to have answers or even understand
> that it exists.
>
> A first-run help system will:
> 1) Let new users know that help exists off-line;
> 2) Introduce common problems on the very first page in order to let
> the new user know that answers to these problems exist;
> 3) Identify that there really IS a help system for other, less common
> problems; and
> 4) Not appear on the second and later logins, thus not nagging anyone.
> You can't nag if you only say it once in a nice way.
>   
Major customers of the Canonical OEM group requested (and I helped 
implement) first-use help.

Brief. Snappy graphics. Few words. Cover a few essential points. Html 
(displayed in yelp or browser) with easy graphical navigation. Can be 
dismissed with a single click. Localized (text and images).

I think such a "Getting Started" article is perfectly applicable to Ubuntu:
* overcoming any fear factor of a new OS
* enabling quick user success for doing a very few essential/first things
* pointing/linking to other help/web pages/wiki/forums, etc.

Source format could be a docbook article. Display format could be 
localized docbook or html. Could be auto-displayed on first boot after 
install and be accessible later in Ubuntu Docs (which doesn't mean it 
*has to be* part of the ubuntu-docs package).

Contents might be:
* welcome to Ubuntu!
* connecting to the internet (simple case: that is: point to the network 
manager icon)
* getting around the desktop (where are applications, system stuff)
* which apps?
* adding apps
* updating software
* getting more info/help

For a prototype. see 
http://people.canonical.com/~knitzsche/ubuntu-getting-started-guide/index.html
(This uses doctemplate's default html styling.)

Ubuntu-docs has a "New to Ubuntu?" section, but this doesn't seem quite 
right for the purpose:
* content not right
* too wordy/no graphics
* too much detail
* not Ubuntu specific

A separate package that ubuntu-docs depends on should be considered. It 
perhaps should be built with doctemplate (launchpad.net/doctemplate, 
which supports effortless image localization, among other things.

A similar approach might be used for displaying info on upgrade to a new 
release (LTS, or perhaps even every release).

Whether this idea would be appropriate for Lucid is an open & 
interesting question. It was not raised at Lucid UDS, and there are no 
blueprints for it.

Cheers,
Kyle





> Lots of programs have a "tip on start-up" that's configurable to
> display or not. The existence of these tips doesn't make the programs
> unintuitive or naggy.
>
> Dan
>
>