EVALUATING USER EXPERIENCE FOR OPERATING SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Raihan Hasnain Rahman Student ID: 03201013 Department of Computer Science and Engineering April 2008 BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Declaration We, hereby, declare that the work presented in this thesis is the outcome of the research performed by me (Raihan Hasnain Rahman) under the supervision of Dr. Mumit Khan, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, BRAC University, Dhaka. I also declare that no part of this thesis and thereof has been or is being submitted elsewhere for the award of any degree or diploma. Signature Signature _____________________ ______________________________ (Dr. Mumit Khan) (Raihan Hasnain Rahman) ii Acknowledgements At first I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Dr. Mumit Khan for his help and cooperation. His useful hints, comments and recommendations helped me in every steps of this research. Without his continuous guidance I would not be able to complete this thesis. Thanks to Arefin Jamal for downloading around 10 Linux distribution iso’s for me. His helpful comments and discussions about many aspects of UX helped me a lot. Thanks to Farzana Rahman for giving me her notebook computer on which I tested different Linux distributions and compiled this report. Thanks to the contributor users of Wikipedia. Disclaimer This research is done for study purposes only. I have no affiliation with any company or any group. By this research document I do not advertise or preach to the users to use or leave any product of any company. Some of the articles, interviews and comments are used here in actual form (without any form of spell or grammar editing). This document is a compilation of many web articles and guidelines of many respected companies. On reference section there are links to those actual articles. iii Abstract User experience is not formally defined in software engineering yet; this research paper is an effort to relate user experience with software engineering with proper references. Operating system is the most important software that all level of users has to use all the time. Linux operating systems are stable and able to fulfill desktop users need, but users seem to avoid Linux desktops for some reasons. The primary reason is usability. To develop Linux operating systems evaluation of users experience is needed. This research was targeted for Linux but the outcomes are valid for any operating system. iv Table of Contents Chapter 1: Prologue 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Objectives.................................................................................................................................. 7 1.3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 7 1.4 Scope of Research...................................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Limitations................................................................................................................................. 7 Chapter 2: Introduction to UX 2.1 What is User Experience ........................................................................................................ 8 2.1.1 User Experience in general................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 User Experience in computer world ..................................................................................................... 8 2.1.3 Defining UX.......................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1.4 Importance of UX................................................................................................................................. 9 2.1.5 Short Notes of the factors.................................................................................................................... 9 2.1.5.1 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) ......................................................................................................9 2.1.5.2 Information architecture (IA)................................................................................................................9 2.1.5.3 Interaction Design (IxD) ........................................................................................................................9 2.1.5.4 User interface Design (UI Design)..........................................................................................................9 2.4.5.5 Usability ................................................................................................................................................9 2.2 Formal Definition................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 3: SE and UX 3.1 Why UX is important for SE.......................................................................................................10 3.1.1 Article 1: Why Features Don’t Matter Anymore, The New Laws of Digital Technology ........................10 3.1.2 Article 2: User Experience Research ....................................................................................................11 3.2 Current Practices in Software Engineering Theories ..................................................................13 3.2.1 Process ...............................................................................................................................................14 3.2.2 Process Assessment ............................................................................................................................14 3.2.3 Agile software engineering .................................................................................................................14 3.2.4 The Adaptive Customer/User..............................................................................................................15 3.2.5 Agility and how to achieve agility........................................................................................................15 3.2.6 The Agile Process................................................................................................................................15 3.2.7 Agile Software development (ASD) .....................................................................................................16 3.2.8 Agile Modelling (AM)..........................................................................................................................16 3.2.9 UI design.............................................................................................................................................16 3.2.10 Usability ...........................................................................................................................................18 3.2.11 User Interface analysis and design ....................................................................................................18 3.2.12 Interface Analysis and Design Models ...............................................................................................18 3.2.13 The process.......................................................................................................................................19 3.2.14 Interface design steps .......................................................................................................................20 3.2.15 Design Issues ....................................................................................................................................20 3.2.16 Design Evaluation .............................................................................................................................21 3.2.17 UI Design Principals ..........................................................................................................................21 3.3 Current and Future Prospects....................................................................................................22 1 Chapter 4: OS and UX 4.1 Operating Systems....................................................................................................................23 4.1.1 What is an Operating System..............................................................................................................23 4.1.2 Functions of Operating System ...........................................................................................................23 4.1.2.1 Process management..........................................................................................................................23 4.1.2.2 Memory management ........................................................................................................................23 4.1.2.3 Disk anD file systems...........................................................................................................................24 4.1.2.4 Networking .........................................................................................................................................25 4.1.2.5 Security ...............................................................................................................................................25 4.1.2.6 Graphical user interfaces ....................................................................................................................26