what i was saying was just an example, however we should all think about drafting a survey we can give out that will be useful and practical to do. However the reason i suggested non open answers is that people around my area hate surveys and filling them in. If i went on the street and did them they would ignore me. However that might be in different areas. But i suppose they can give shorter answers. So if we all work together and draft a first issue of a survey we can look at it and improve it. <div>On 29/01/06, John Williams <<a href="mailto:johnfrombluff@gmail.com">johnfrombluff@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> On Sat, 2006-01-28 at 12:39 +0100, Mr Bulldog wrote: > What do you want from you Computing Environment? Tick any Two > > X Easy and Fully Configurable Environment > X Performance and not a Memory Hog > X Regular Updates, Security Fixes on the fly (Safe Environment) > X Simply Layed out to get the Job Done Good first try, but I would like to suggest an improvement: "What do you want from your interaction with computers that you are not currently getting?  Write as much or as little as you like, but try to be specific and unambiguous.  Tell us what you like about your current experience with computers, what you don't like, and what you want but do not currently receive." This wording could be improved, but I think you get the idea. Note that this is a "free response" question.  Providing a limited list of responses and a limited way of responding is, you guessed it, limiting.  You get, in a very real sense, the answers you expect.  There is no possibility for you to get new information.  You should only use such a format when you pretty much know what the answers are, and you only want to make your estimates of proportions more precise. I suggest that, as open/free desktop developers (and marketers), we have next-to-no clue about what computers users (in general) really want.  I know that some people who will read this will think that they know what users want.  That's fine, but I am interested in facts, not opinions.  I am sorry if that sounds inflammatory, but that is the scientist in me speaking. The next problem, of course, is finding a way to pose the question to the people that matter, i.e. the sampling plan.  I have a few ideas about this but am not sure that any of them are any good.  Has anyone else been thinking about this? Cheers, John </blockquote></div>