[Sandbox] Getting average/mainstream user involved in product improvement

[gecebekcisi]

Proposal:
http://maemo.org/community/brainstorm/view/getting_average-mainstream_user_involved_in_improvement

Synopsis:
As far as I see, "Getting involved in product improvement" is mostly done actively by some enthusiasts and I think it would be great to get average/mainstream user involved in improving user experience with help from the OS & within the OS.

I also think that this would improve users' overall experience greatly about the product since average/mainstream user would like to see being taken care of / listened to when they need it.

[gecebekcisi]

timsamoff mentioned in his comment below the proposal, that there is a crash reporter app and it was only used in earlier versions of the OS and also had no bearing on user karma.

I thought there might be an app for that (see what I did? :P), but without actively using users no app is gonna be helpful to anyone.

That's why I am trying to find ways to make it used by users, like earning karma/points that can be spent in *real* rewards (free downloads of paid content maybe?) encouraging users involvement in improvement.

Any more ideas to get average/mainstream user involved in product improvement?

[Andre Klapper]

Crash reporter is still available for Maemo5. Speaking as a bugmaster I don't totally agree with having easy ways to report issuea either - seen that in GNOME Evolution where there is a menu item to file a bug report, so it was partially "abused" for stuff that should have ended up in a forum instead. It has both advantages and disadvantages.

With regard to this report, solution #1 is already implemented and available.

[Andre Klapper]

That's why I am trying to find ways to make it used by users, like earning karma/points that can be spent in *real* rewards

Note that there might be always a very very very small fraction of people that will might useless tickets like mad just to get the points.

[edgedemon]

If the error reporting tool only appears after an application crash, then hopefully it will not be abused.
I am an average/mainstream user, this will be my first ever nokia and my first non windows phone in about 7 yrs, and Im very interested in helping out any way I can, so I like the idea of solution 1, I also like the idea of reward points, but I can see that being open to abuse...

[gecebekcisi]

Fair points, but I guess a smart anti-abuse system could be implemented in that case (maybe users could get points only for non-abusing, valid submissions which will be reviewed by trusted users?).

Maybe I couldn't express myself well there, but solution #1 emphasizes on an approach for convincing user to submit crash reports; not the app itself only. I haven't seen it but guessing that the reporting app doesn't work in this kinda average user friendly approach.

Crowd sourcing can be harnessed for good of the community & products, so if we just can do it in a right way...

[Texrat]

As I've noted in other communications, this will require expansion of maemo.org Bugzilla... and I'm all for it. :) (with apologies to Andre)

[gecebekcisi]

I wish I could help implementing any of these solutions somehow but I lack needed coding skills atm :\

[MrGrim]

One of the reasons i switched from windows xp to 2000 was the annoying message i got when something crashed, asking me to submit some bug report i was sure no-one was going to read anyway. Seems like a bad idea to invite people to help by bombarding them with "it crashed, help us!!!" dialogs until they get frustrated.
Maybe an applet that would light up or change to a " ! " when something goes wrong, and then allow the user to submit an automated bug report with a pair of clicks would be both useful and unobtrusive. And, of course, somehow educating the user about how not even the best developers can solve problems that aren't reported. Perhaps nokia can be persuaded to include in the manual a paragraph about why it is good to submit any problem to the community?

[gecebekcisi]

Good points MrGrim, I also think that participation should absolutely be optional and user should be bothered minimally.

If participation is accepted, all submitting should be done in background. If participation refused, user should never be asked again.

Finally, all these should depend on manually switchable settings.

[gecebekcisi]

I have another idea, I think I'll add it as another solution too..

What if a value added application/service (for ex. Sports Tracker or Ovi Navigation) is offered freely with the optional condition of installing a "system monitor service" which will submit crash logs on user selected schedule/behavior?

This is similar to Digsby's and/or Google's very accepted* approach (grant it freely, mine back the value slowly) but should be done in Nokia's harmless way other than already offered compromising privacy.

*: considering that we are talking about the possible mainstream customers which we are targeting at the moment in this sandbox idea.

[gecebekcisi]

I added Solution #7 based on the idea above

[RevdKathy]

I was looking at the various suggestions etc, and bringing my teddy bear head to the table, I'm not sure about the exact differences.

Perhaps if I explain where I'm at, you can tell me what to vote for!

Once I get my precious n900, I will, after a few days playing, be up for app testing. I will be happy to report problems with the following provisos:

1) I can only test anything once the troubleshooting page is clear enough for me to be absolutely sure I can restore after problems

2) The easier and more streamlined the reporting process, the better. A single 'report this?' button (much as windoze does it) is easiest for me. If I can set preferences to always do it, even better.

3) BUT (see above) I am on a limited data plan. If I can set it so that any problems are auto-reported as soon as I connect to my 'home venue' wifi, that would be perfect.

4) No, I don't need fancy incentives: being part of the community and having something I can do (given that i can't code to save my life!) is incentive enough.

What should I vote for?

[gecebekcisi]

I don't need fancy incentives

I don't need too, but some people will surely need fancy incentives for motivation (that could mean more affirmative user experience for some, people like being awarded for their "hard work" :p) and attraction (IMO most mainstream users won't know that they could contribute unless they're obviously offered. Remember the power of marketing ;))

What should I vote for?

If existing solutions satify you, you can vote each independently.
But if you're not satistifed, you can create new solution(s) based on your conditions and wait for feedback as I do atm :)