---
title: Usability testing in open source software
osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2018/program/proposals/475
beginning: '2018-11-10T16:30:00.000-08:00'
end: '2018-11-10T17:20:00.000-08:00'
presenters:
- name: Jim Hall
  affiliation: The FreeDOS Project
  osem_url: https://osem.seagl.org/users/751
  gravatar_id: 6806d30d722e44cb76a923ac27152047
  biography: Jim Hall is an open source software developer and advocate, probably
    best known as the founder and project coordinator for FreeDOS. Jim is also very
    active in the usability of open source software, as a mentor for usability testing
    in GNOME Outreachy, and as an occasional adjunct professor teaching a course on
    the Usability of Open Source Software. From 2016 to 2017, Jim served as a director
    on the GNOME Foundation Board of Directors. At work, Jim is Chief Information
    Officer in local government.
---

Is your program easy to use? Generally, a program has good usability if it is easy for new users to learn, easy for them to use, and easy for them to remember when they use the program again. Usability is not the same as user experience (UX) but they are related. You may think that usability is difficult, but it only takes a little time and effort to make your program easier to use. In this talk, we will walk through how to do usability testing in open source software, and share actual usability test results from usability testing in GNOME. Attendees will learn how to easily set up and perform their own usability tests, to make their programs easier to use.
