The mailing list for users of the eduroam Configuration Assistant Tool (CAT)

[Metselaar Jasper <jasper.metselaar AT sundsvall.se>]

Hi Tomasz,

First of all, I never meant to offend you. I just wanted to help to make 
Eduroam and CAT even better than it is today.

If it was up to me, http://cat.eduroam.org would contain the following parts:
1. A short description of the Eduroam and the CAT Tool. (Something like what 
is Eduroam, what is the CAT, why should the user use it and who is behind it)
2. The selection list of institutions, sorted based on Geo location. Users 
should not need to click on the download link here.
3. Selecting an institution would take the user to the download page with OS 
detection and the option to download the installer for other OS and versions. 
 Just like it does today. This part of the process today is pretty good on 
the desktop version of the website.
4. A link to the FAQ
5. Terms of use in the footer of the page
6. A report a problem link could also be included, but the page it directs to 
should include that the IT department of the users home organization should 
be their first point of contact when it comes to support.
7.And of course, the site should support localization/translations.

I don't think there is a need for an Admin link or a link to become a CAT 
developer (these can be in the FAQ)
Another point is the "information banner", like "CAT was recently upgraded to 
version 1.1.1 Please report any issues to the mailing list 
cat-users AT geant.net".
 I don't think this is useful for end users, unless it is solely used for 
serious problems like "We are currently experiencing issues with the Windows 
Installer and therefore it can't be downloaded right now". If that's the case 
it should stand out more.

Regarding the design: I would like to see a modern, clean and light design 
(no need to make it to flashy). It should also be responsive, so that it has 
a consistent look on all devices. Using a framework like Bootstrap could be 
very helpful here. 
Personally I think https://eduroam.no/connect/ is a good example.

Some clarification about the current UI being confusing: how confusing it is, 
depends on how users are getting there. If end user has a link to a specific 
organization of profile, it isn't that confusing (as long as you are using a 
desktop browser).
However, when the end user gets  https://cat.eduroam.org  as a starting 
point, which is not unusual when helping a user by phone or face to face, the 
problem becomes more obvious.
1. Many users are missing the "Eduroam user: Download your installer-button". 
They are just looking at the menu on the left.
2. When they clicked on a menu entry on the left? How should they get back to 
the startpage? Why isn't there a link to the start page? (most users won't 
notice the link on the top right of the screen).

Most trust concerns are, as you might understand, related to the mobile site. 
It isn't very appealing and many users, especially on Android, have been 
warned to download stuff from other sources that Google Play. 
Problem here is that there is no explanation at all, not about CAT, not about 
Eduroam. Nothing. Just a download link.
And yes, basing trust on the looks of the site is strange in itself, I agree. 
But for many users without a technical background, this is the first step in 
rating a site's trustworthiness. Hopefully they will also check that the site 
has SSL, but unfortunately most of the users will never look at the 
certificate itself.
There are also minor trust problems regarding the desktop version of the 
site, like: What or who is GÉANT Assosiation? What do they have to do with 
Eduroam or my University/Organization?

I hope this mail explains the current issues a bit more in extend and that my 
opinions and suggestions are (somewhat) useful.

Best regards,
Jasper



-----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
Från: Tomasz Wolniewicz 
[mailto:twoln AT umk.pl]
 
Skickat: den 4 november 2015 22:08
Till: Metselaar Jasper; 
A.L.M.Buxey AT lboro.ac.uk
Kopia: 
cat-users AT geant.net
Ämne: Re: SV: [cat-users] CAT website design and Swedish translation?

Hi,
Being the designer of the UI it is not that nice to hear that, but frankly I 
realise that the interface could be really improved and I am more then open 
to move forward in this direction. Perhaps, replacing the mobile interface 
would be a good starting point. I will happily discuss why the current GUI 
works the way it does and what functionality should be preserved.

Why don't we start by discussing why organisations/NROs think CAT does not 
meet their needs. With over 2.5mln of user downloads we cannot be doing all 
bad.

I suggest we restrict the discussion to the user interface. The admin 
interface has a limited audience and there it is more important what we can 
do with it then how this is done, it would be also much harder to change.

If we want to go forward then we need clear statements.

The first one is that the interface is ugly - no need to explain, but there 
is space for discussion of what user group should it address, should it be 
plain and simple or perhaps more flashy. Should it be a starting point also 
for the admins, or should we have a separate page for them? Can it have a 
different installer selection process? Is the welcome message a good thin to 
have or should we skip that?

The second is that the interface is confusing - after those 2.5mln of user 
downloads this is the first time I hear that the interface is confusing or 
that someone would find it so strange that they would not trust it. Actually 
this last one, basing trust on a site on its looks is somewhat strange in 
itself :). Therefore please explain.

Cheers
Tomasz




W dniu 04.11.2015 o 21:21, Metselaar Jasper pisze:
> This discussion has become an interesting one. :-)
>
> The best solution, in my humble opinion, would be a central CAT site. 
> But the main reason that other configuration sites pop up is because the 
> design of the official site is not very intuitive and confusing for end 
> users. Especially the mobile version is confusing and I have heard quite a 
> few users saying that they would not trust that site.
> My guess is that, if the official CAT site would be more attractive, with a 
> easy to use (end user)interface, there wouldn't be a need for most of the 
> "local" implementations.
>
> Personally I don't think there are many organizations/NROs that want to 
> create, host or maintain a CAT site just because they can. They probably 
> started their own CAT site because the official CAT site doesn't meet their 
> needs.
>
> /Jasper
>
> -----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
> Från: Tomasz Wolniewicz 
> [mailto:twoln AT umk.pl]
> Skickat: den 4 november 2015 20:12
> Till: 
> A.L.M.Buxey AT lboro.ac.uk
> Kopia: 
> cat-users AT geant.net
> Ämne: Re: [cat-users] CAT website design and Swedish translation?
>
> Hi Alan,
>
> W dniu 04.11.2015 o 19:38, 
> A.L.M.Buxey AT lboro.ac.uk
>  pisze:
>> so, how about this - each NRO can host such an interface but they are 
>> ONLY able to present their orgs in the list ?
> Yes but what about foreign visitors, which place will they go?  Will it be 
> obvious that they should go to their country federation?
> Are we not loosing the functionality of a single full IdP listing?
>
> I see not problem in completely separating the CAT back-end and the user 
> front-end. The current approach already implements this to a very large 
> extent. Refactoring the code so that you would have a separate installation 
> for the front-end and for the back-end would not be a big job.
>
> As the CAT developer I am quite happy with any new challenge, and 
> distributed, configurable user interface would be just that, but as the 
> eduroam advocate I am worried about our unity. What I cannot comprehend is 
> why we cannot agree that as we promote the single eduroam as an 
> international cooperation symbol, we cannot agree on using a single 
> configuration site. And what next, are we going to have a separate Android 
> eduroamCAT for each federation? By separating the access sites we will also 
> lose the common place where user come with their ideas, be it a complaint 
> about the UI being ugly :).
>
>
> Tomasz
>

-- 
Tomasz Wolniewicz    
          
twoln AT umk.pl
        http://www.home.umk.pl/~twoln

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