Usabilidade no Software Livre: Propondo melhorias para a caixa de diálogo Preenchimento e Contorno do Inkscape

Abstract

Over the years, proprietary software projects have invested time and money in usability research for their products. Open-source software, generally lacking substantial financial resources, relies on its communities to persist and provide a dignified and ethical use of computer programs, especially for those unable to acquire licenses for proprietary software. As technologies continue to shorten geographical and interpersonal distances, there are increased opportunities for conducting Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) evaluations involving end users who have the potential to contribute remotely to usability research. With this in mind, this study applied a remote usability test to the Inkscape software after researching recurring usability issues, which pointed to a specific part of the software, the Fill and Stroke dialog box. Upon completing tests on this particular aspect of the software, the results facilitated the development of usability improvement proposals and the creation of high-fidelity prototypes. These will be presented to the community with the perspective of being incorporated into future versions of the software.