bjoernbalazs wrote:[Persona]
My mum. (Uses computers a little, but, well, you know... If there are smallest problems, she is lost. If rebooting doesn't help someone has to show up)

If we want Calamares to be the default installer for all Linux distros, then you mom (aka "novice users") certainly is a target persona, but probably not the only one. If we target only novice users, then we would not even offer manual partitioning, for example.
Jens' designs seem to have had novices as primary persona in mind, but with advanced users as a secondary persona.

This shows that it really makes sense to think about target personas early on!

Well to be totally frank I am of the sincere conviction that the people that need to be catered too are first and foremost the new comers. I can find my way around a command prompt if I need to, but my mum (well ok my mum can too... but my husband) can't. To them there are no second options, no "outs".
This is of course not the correct way to a good sollution - BUT its a good aim especially with something so incredibly basic as the installer. By giving the advanced user options to actually do all the little fiddly bits but hidden away we don't rob them of usability but give some to the newbies.

We all know that Linux is still "the geeks choice" which is, to me, odd (except of course it isn't, people tend to buy the entire package - the hardware and all are considered a complete set and when one breaks you switch both). The installer is our first option - our very first "hello" to a new user and considering it is also one of the more technical bits a user will encounter its relevant that a distro agnostic installer has to cater to this first and foremost.

It has to be simple and inviting - it has to be a clear and easily defined path for any user showing exactly how and why the installer is doing what its doing. So that he or she feels welcomed from the very first step until its all finished. So that there is never any doubt what is happening.

One thing I've been thinking of is starting with a slow presentation of what is present on the computer at the time explained in a nice and human fashion in both text and imagery. This while explaining how things will be installed and the coming end-result. This is the partitioning bit David mentioned but without actually touching the partitions.
(Introductions -> Whats on your computer now and what are we planning to do with it? -> Location -> Keyboard -> Partitioning -> Name and Computer Name -> Summary -> Installation Slideshow)

The reason why partitions come so late is because they are the scariest bit. A lot of weird terms like "/dev/sda" and technical details flung around like a clumsy ballerina dancer - we need to sneak the user up to this point. Again for the expert users it doesn't much matter what order its in, but for the novice a nice group of non-committal settings feels better (tbh I would even prefer for there to be MORE frivolous settings added and questions anyone can answer just to pad and build up to the shock even better but that may be overdoing it).

I would prefer to see the advanced settings as either a pop-out window or something that scrolls downwards. Something with a short introduction of whats going on in this bit and then just pour it on. Let all the hightechy shorthand come on in to show "This is techy stuff, do not touch!".

Not to be a broken record player but the essence is new users. In this situations they are the one that needs catering too and who are often left out entirely because we fear that the more high-techy users will avoid it. I don't think they will. As long as the option to geek out is there then I am sure they see the reasoning behind such a course of action.

jensreuterberg wrote:Not to be a broken record player but the essence is new users. In this situations they are the one that needs catering too and who are often left out entirely because we fear that the more high-techy users will avoid it. I don't think they will. As long as the option to geek out is there then I am sure they see the reasoning behind such a course of action.

It seems we all agree on that Hence the primary target persona being the novices. However if we do offer advanced options (no matter how well hidden), we implicitly assume that advanced users are a secondary target persona (as we are implementing features specifically for them).
I just want to make that explicit, because if we'd say "Our target persona is Berna, period." (from the KDE4 Personas, since we have no new ones yet) then I'd object to implementing any features Berna would not use, regardless of how well they are hidden.
The whole exercise of selecting target personas is to make things we have implicit in our minds explicit.

bjoernbalazs wrote:Great to see an initiative to tackle the problem of installing Linux. I like the designs, would love to see that on my screen, when I happen to need to install Linux next time!

I have some thought about this topic I would like to share:

[Vision]
Make it fail save to install Linux on your computer.

[Persona]
My mum. (Uses computers a little, but, well, you know... If there are smallest problems, she is lost. If rebooting doesn't help someone has to show up)

[Main Task]
Install Linux on you computer: Infrequent, & critical

[Base UX pattern]
Wizard.
Note to current design: This should be addressed more clearly.

[Critical Sub-Tasks]
Partitioning / formatting.
This is the most (and perhaps only) critical sub task, as it possibly destroys existing data, might be hard to revert in the future (e.g. chosen file system) and requires technical decisions / knowledge.

-> My mum will fail here on anything I have seen so far. To make her pass this hurdle we need to move the focus away from technical decisions to descriptions of the goal to reach. So why not add a sub-wizard:

### What describes the computer you install Linux to best?
- My computer
- Shared computer
- Home server
- Media PC
- ...
- I want to manually create the partitioning

-> Depending on the selection, the wizard might need to ask more questions (e.g. install disc, encryption) and should then present a recommendation for a disc partitioning to the user:

### Please confirm set up of the partitioning of disc XX
We recommend you to:
- Shrink windows98 to 20GB
- Create a boot partiton of 1 GB
- ....

[OK] [Modify partitioning]

-> This way we would get all the technical decisions out of my mums way. She would only have to describe, what she wants to use the computer for. In the end she will simply accept the partitioning and has passed this critical hurdle. Of course we need to come up with a decent decision tree, but I guess that should be doable, esp. as we only have to cover most common aspects (experts should chose the manual configuration). If we are good, we can even derive decent settings for grub and perhaps the software that should be installed in the base version out of these questions.

Get the idea?

The part about the partitioning is so critical, I tell you, I have messed up my installs so many times because of the lack of information and familiarity of the partitioning process. I have always wanted to tackle that through design. Hopefully we can create a simple, informed and powerful visual method to work with partitions. I personally like the idea of a pie chart rather than linear representations of disk space. But I would have to put it down on paper to see how that would turn out to be.

I do like anditosans mockups very much

Particularly the progress tracker thing (the row of icons with the upwards arrow above them on the lower image that he posted) to show you how far you are through the installation process - although i think it would be a good idea to make it more obvious which stages had been done and which are still to come.

One thought though, do we need to consider if the direction that the tracker goes in as you progress through the installation (left-to-right or right-to-left) should be changed depending on whether the language they're installing in goes from left-to-right or right-to-left? If we do, then the language should be defined before the progress tracker appears. Those kinds of 'progress trackers' are very common on the internet but I've never looked at a website with a right-to-left language so have no idea which direction their 'progress trackers' go - maybe we should match whatever the majority of those web sites do?

So, here's my take on the installer.

Obviously I need to complete it, but this is what I've done so far.

I've found installers to be complicated to those who have never installed an OS (obviously) but even those that are simpler like Ubuntu's Ubiquity or Antergo's Cnchi sometimes offer too much information, if the user knows what to do that isn't a problem, but, if it's the first time then it becomes overwhelming. So I'm trying to simplify it without hiding stuff that is needed to install the OS. Also trying to keep the "this is a installer" look and feel.

This is the first screen when the installers opens up, here the user selects the language and the keyboard layout, right from the beginning. Devs can change the respective graphics for their own. A nice welcome message that tells the user what distribution and version are they installing and an indicator at the bottom of the window so the user knows where in the stages of the installation of the OS is he/she.

Second screen, the user enters the information for the account, along with helpful tips for each field. As above graphics are to be replaced by the distribution, a meesage indicating the user what he/she is doing and what to do. A dropdown to select the country and timezone and the chance to include the picture for the user account.

I'll post more when I do the other screens.

Ok so this is just a post to add the SVG's that was asked for

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s46g27s9m3eg6 ... s.svg?dl=0

Uri_Herrera wrote:So, here's my take on the installer.
I'll post more when I do the other screens.

f.ck I'd like to start on a mockup, but hey your installer mockup is great. I really like it.

Uri_Herrera wrote:So, here's my take on the installer.

Obviously I need to complete it, but this is what I've done so far.

I've found installers to be complicated to those who have never installed an OS (obviously) but even those that are simpler like Ubuntu's Ubiquity or Antergo's Cnchi sometimes offer too much information, if the user knows what to do that isn't a problem, but, if it's the first time then it becomes overwhelming. So I'm trying to simplify it without hiding stuff that is needed to install the OS. Also trying to keep the "this is a installer" look and feel.

This is the first screen when the installers opens up, here the user selects the language and the keyboard layout, right from the beginning. Devs can change the respective graphics for their own. A nice welcome message that tells the user what distribution and version are they installing and an indicator at the bottom of the window so the user knows where in the stages of the installation of the OS is he/she.

Second screen, the user enters the information for the account, along with helpful tips for each field. As above graphics are to be replaced by the distribution, a meesage indicating the user what he/she is doing and what to do. A dropdown to select the country and timezone and the chance to include the picture for the user account.

I'll post more when I do the other screens.

I like the visuals here and the simplicity you went for in the design. I think as a general installer, this design is strong. What would it be like if all elements of the installation are coordinated inside the image you place rather than making the image become smaller at the top of the installer window? Also, a key element on what Jens was looking for is a way to click back in the items that you are installing or configuring and switch back in case you wanted to change settings or start with a different module. What would you add on your current design to show that?

anditosan wrote:What would it be like if all elements of the installation are coordinated inside the image you place rather than making the image become smaller at the top of the installer window?

I think it is "lighter on the eyes" to not use the image as background and also less distracting.

I also think the secondary header (Fill in your account details) could be removed. Two headings look a bit weird to me.

Wonderful work, btw

anditosan wrote:I like the visuals here and the simplicity you went for in the design. I think as a general installer, this design is strong. What would it be like if all elements of the installation are coordinated inside the image you place rather than making the image become smaller at the top of the installer window? Also, a key element on what Jens was looking for is a way to click back in the items that you are installing or configuring and switch back in case you wanted to change settings or start with a different module. What would you add on your current design to show that?

Thanks,

I tried with the image as the background for the window but it looks very distracting. and let's be honest unless its a a good background it won't look good.

I think installers have to be straightforward. The indicator and the Go Back button cover the "oh I'm not sure I entered X right I better go back" situation. Though I don't know how starting from different modules works, I for one for example would want to choose my language first than to enter the account information.

Saabhero wrote:I think it is "lighter on the eyes" to not use the image as background and also less distracting.

I also think the secondary header (Fill in your account details) could be removed. Two headings look a bit weird to me.

Wonderful work, btw

It's just to emphasize what the user should do in that screen.

Uri_Herrera wrote:

Saabhero wrote:I also think the secondary header (Fill in your account details) could be removed. Two headings look a bit weird to me.

Wonderful work, btw

It's just to emphasize what the user should do in that screen.

The instructions sentence makes sense to me. Maybe it could be made a little smaller so that it's more clearly distinguished from the header?

I'm going to echo anditosans comments re the partitioner. It must at the very least be able to either identify the current installed operating systems and their locations, or give you an option to browse the contents of the harddisks / partitions. Ideally it would do both of those things.

I too have installed an o/s on the wrong partition because of this lack of information. My problem was confounded by having four hard drives of the exact same make and model installed.

This is actually a very critical piece of software as unlike OSX and Windows, Linux rarely comes pre-installed, so this is the first thing a potential user is going to hit.

Just sticking my oar in - a while ago i installed Fedora (I think) 19 Gnome and they'd just bought out a new installer where there wasn't an obvious, linear, well defined 'step 1 first, then step 2, then step 3 .....' instead you could just dip into any of the sections in any order that you wanted, it just wouldn't let you move on if you hadn't completed all the necessary steps. If you were a new linux user who was using an installer for the first time the freedom of 'do the steps in whatever order you want' would have just made things seem even more daunting and scary.

I think we need to keep it more linear (Step 1, step 2, step 3.....) so we make it as easy as it can be for the newer users, but do it so that you're free to go backwards and forwards to different steps. I think the biggest improvement we could make to our installer would be to create one that, if you were new to linux, you really felt like it was holding your hand, keeping you informed about what it's doing or going to do (as others have already said) and guiding you through the whole thing.

when I want to use a install APP the thirst time I know what I do because I looked at YouTube vor the Homepage.

When I Start a Installer Programm I'd like to install but in the Start page a short info and a link to the Homepage would be nice.