In article <14619421.HT35MDpVJF@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>> Seattle Area Bloggers Needed for Microsoft User Research Study
> >>>
> >>> ,----[ Quote ]
> >>>| For your participation, we'll give you your choice of retail
> >>>| software and hardware from our extensive list. Current titles
> >>>| include the latest Xbox, Xbox 360, and PC games, keyboards,
> >>>| Microsoft Office, Windows, productivity software and much more.
> >>> `----
> >>
> >> How come you NEVER object when IBM or Sun or Apple do this?
>
> The key word there is "bloggers".
Is it possible that you overlooked what the study is for? It's a
usability test. They are developing some software or service of use to
bloggers (probably something to do with the blogging facilities on their
Live Spaces thingy).
Hence, they want bloggers to come down to their offices, spend a couple
hours using the new software, while they watch them, so they can see
what interface problems the software has and fix it. This is routine.
Most major software companies do it. If you are testing software for
page layout, you'd ask publishing people down. If you are testing
software for accounting, you'd ask small businessmen down. And if you
are testing software for blogging (or an online blogging service you
offer), you ask bloggers to come on down.
If they were giving software to have Seattle bloggers come down to
listen to a presentation about why Linux is bad, or something like that,
I'd see that you'd have a legitimate beef with them, but I don't see how
a company the developers software for the blogger market wanting to do a
usability test on that software is bad. Sure, bloggers can be annoying
sometime, but to deny them good interfaces is cruel! :-)
--
--Tim Smith
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