On Wed, 2009-12-23 at 12:35 -0800, Jon Cruz wrote:
On Dec 23, 2009, at 12:22 PM, Joshua A. Andler wrote:
Not a bad idea in general, however we would need to create a survey to achieve this. I don't think users of inkscapeforum alone will represent a wide enough group of different types of users. So, perhaps we create an online survey and announce on the forums, the user-list, deviantart, twitter, and our website.
The question then becomes, what if people overwhelmingly respond?
What generally happens in these cases is that you don't get much useful information. That is, the online poll tends to get misinformation and more of what people think the poller wants to hear.
So if you ask Age, Occupation, Hobbies/Interests, Is your use of inkscape related to occupation, hobbies/interests, both, or neither? What have you used Inkscape for?, How long have you been using it for? Have you used other vector graphics software?, If so, sow long have you used vector graphics software for?, etc... that people are going to intentionally give us bad info? What do they think we want to hear by those types of questions? That everyone is a 35yr old graphic designer who has 17 years of experience with vector software and 3yrs w/ inkscape?
Remember, users will lie. Well, rather they will say what they think is *how* to get what they want, not the *why* of what they're actually trying to get.
We're not asking them what they want. So they have no reason to lie. We state the purpose of the survey... we need to know more about our userbase and what uses people are finding for inkscape.
On the other hand, observing users "in the wild" at trade shows or conventions is a good opportunity to conduct such surveying (and, yes, I've confirmed this with many usability professionals)
I agree on the observing users piece. However, it is again limiting w/ *where* you recommend surveying because most people I know have never attended a trade show or convention. Better yet, I personally know a small and diverse group of Inkscape users, none have ever been to a trade show or convention. They're now left out.
Cheers, Josh