Re: We need usage data - please review

Cau Jardo,

your goal is to integrate the project into the standard NetBeans  
distribution, right?

I like the project. Such data might be potentially very useful for  
recommending future UI changes.

As for the UI integration into the IDE, it really contains two parts:

1. Asking for permission to send the data. This includes gaining the  
user's confidence that we're not sending any private data over the  
network.
2. Offer the user a return value for the data we gather. This  
includes the tip of the day and potentially other things.

For the first version of this feature in standard distribution, I  
would recommend a simplistic approach, which means only asking the  
user for permission to send the data. Once we see we can do something  
useful with data we get, then we can think about ways to deliver  
something back to the user. Currently I don't think we have a  
specific plan for it apart from saying it might be interesting to the  
user.

If we agree on simplistic approach, then solution might look  
something like this: The installer wizard shows a panel asking for  
permission to send the data. If the user agrees to send the data, the  
IDE would then send the data silently maybe with each connection to  
update center, or each exit, or some other suitable time. Other than  
that there would be no other UI changes needed.

That's my opinion.

Thanks,
Jano

On 29 Nov 2006, at 10:26, Jaroslav Tulach wrote:

> I'd like to solve one painful problem we have and that is: We do  
> not know how
> many users use given feature in the NetBeans based applications  
> including the
> IDE.
>
> The good news is that times are changing. I am about to implement a  
> feature
> which permits for NB users to send back logs of what they did. I  
> have written
> a proposal describing the solution. Check usecases:
>
> http://www.netbeans.org/download/dev/javadoc/org-netbeans-modules- 
> uihandler/overview-summary.html
>
> and scenarios and a bit of ascii art at
>
> http://www.netbeans.org/source/browse/*checkout*/logger/uihandler/ 
> src/org/netbeans/modules/uihandler/api/doc-files/ui.html
>
> I would strongly recommend to implement the project and use these  
> data. Not
> doing so will result in something like. "None uses image module,  
> anyway".
> Hmm, but maybe this is not true at all. May be that images are quite
> important for web apps.
>
>
> Tell me what you think and what would you change in my proposals.
> Thanks.
> -jst
>
>