Go to a conference. Find some random person. You want a representative
sample.
Pay them to try Emacs.
Then watch them use Emacs.


https://www.nngroup.com/articles/why-you-only-need-to-test-with-5-users/

On Sat, Sep 26, 2020 at 3:28 PM Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:

> > Date: Sat, 26 Sep 2020 21:58:24 +0300
> > From: Jean Louis <bugs@rcdrun.com>
> > Cc: jamtlu@gmail.com, emacs-devel@gnu.org
> >
> > > > It is your opinion.
> > >
> > > Each one of us expresses his or her own opinions.  It's a trivium.
> >
> > Sure, but we talk about users, so to say that one cannot learn the
> > stuff in general, should be supported by some kind of a survey.
>
> Same is true for your opinions.
>
> > The fact is right now is that not every tooltip is usable
>
> "Not usable" in your opinion.  I disagree.
>
> > So it will happen to new user to get confused. Users expect tooltips
> > to describe the function, and description shall be made better
> > understandable.
>
> You (and anyone else) are welcome to suggest improvements.  But the
> fact that there's place for improvement doesn't yet mean that what we
> have is unusable or confusing.
>
> > > > I tried finding what should undecided-unix mean, and I cannot find, I
> > > > just found that "unix" is alias for "undecided-unix".
> > >
> > > Type "C-h i m emacs RET i undecided RET", and read there.
> >
> > I did not find the definition for undecided-unix by following your
> > example. That it is alias, does not define it.
>
> I don't think I understand why.  Quote:
>
>      The coding systems ‘unix’, ‘dos’, and ‘mac’ are aliases for
>   ‘undecided-unix’, ‘undecided-dos’, and ‘undecided-mac’, respectively.
>   These coding systems specify only the end-of-line conversion, and leave
>   the character code conversion to be deduced from the text itself.
>
> (The previous text explains what is "end-of-line conversion".)
>
> > > Not "experienced", but one who have read some minimal introductory
> > > material about the Emacs UI, and/or have learned how to use the manual
> > > to search for (as yet) unknown concepts.
> >
> > For that group of people I disagree they need any tooltip
> > then. Tooltip is for users to understand it, it is not for Emacs UI
> > skilled people. It is for unskilled.
>
> I didn't say "skilled".  Users aren't divided into those who know
> nothing and those who are "skilled".  There are many degrees of gray
> in between.
>
> > > The logic is that when they find some term that is not clear, and the
> > > text there doesn't have a hyperlink to where that term is described in
> > > more detail (there usually is), then the user should go to the
> > > Glossary and search the term there.
> >
> > Sure, you know it. But does it say anywhere? Does it guide the user?
>
> Having a glossary is one of the basic traits of any serious
> publication.  Not unlike having a TOC.  I expect readers to know about
> that and actively search for it.
>
> > > Once again, there are limitations of what can be usefully said in a
> > > short menu entry and its tooltip.  If you have practical suggestions
> > > for how to use up the available screen estate better in that case,
> > > please propose how to improve the wording we have there.
> >
> > I think that general principles shall be set first, as to improve
> > wording, there are so many that could be improved, the descriptions
> > should not be written in first place that do not describe it
> > meaningfully. So I do not speak of a specific bug, I speak of general
> > flaws hindering understanding for users.
>
> There are no "general flaws" in this context.  These aspects of Emacs
> documentation and UI were worked on for many years by many talented
> people.  So any flaws are likely specific and not general.
>
> In any case, speaking about "general flaws" without any concrete
> details and concrete proposals for specific menu items or tooltips is
> not a very useful investment of our time.  So if this is what you
> intend to talk about, I'm afraid I won't be able to continue
> participating in this thread.
>
> > > > I am not speaking of myself Eli. I am speaking of new user viewpoint.
> > >
> > > So am I.
> >
> > Alright, then your viewpoint for new users is way advanced.
>
> Your words.  I disagree.
>
> > So something like:
> >
> > Search files (Grep...) is using the external shell command "grep" that
> > searches the named input files for lines containing a match to the
> > given pattern.
>
> That is basically what the tooltip already says.
>