[Libreoffice-bugs] [Bug 125961] New: [Website] Download page should support non-English users better

[bugzilla-daemon at bugs.documentfoundation.org]

https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/show_bug.cgi?id=125961

            Bug ID: 125961
           Summary: [Website] Download page should support non-English
                    users better
           Product: LibreOffice
           Version: unspecified
          Hardware: x86-64 (AMD64)
                OS: All
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Keywords: needsUXEval
          Severity: normal
          Priority: medium
         Component: UI
          Assignee: libreoffice-bugs at lists.freedesktop.org
          Reporter: sc.it at die-optimisten.net

Created attachment 152236
  --> https://bugs.documentfoundation.org/attachment.cgi?id=152236&action=edit
Download page (Windows)

Summary: It needs extra steps to download LO in non-English languages and the
language selection page doesn't help the user to find their language quickly.

Context:
Around 15 years ago I worked with OpenOffice, but its bad use interface impeded
and annoyed me, which made me switch to Microsoft Office. Now I tried to
download LO to test whether LO is matured enough to replace MS Office in my
private and in a German governmental environment. Therefore, yesterday I went
to www.libreoffice.org and clicked the big “DOWNLOAD NOW” button in the middle
of the landing page. This brought me to the Download page. I expected to get a
German LO version to start quickly and explore LO’s current maturity state. As
UX and Design Thinking are not very common in governmental environment yet
(with all the drawbacks unhappy users and UX designers know) I do care a lot
for good UX to overcome this unhealthy state.
I tested with Firefox on macOS High Sierra, Windows 7 and Ubuntu 18.04.

Current solution:
1.      The download page is in English.
2.      By default LO in English is downloaded, but the download page does not
inform about it. 
Users of macOS (and Linux) have to download their preferred language pack
separately.
3.      There are download links for non-English languages at the end of each
box and at the right hand side of the page.
4.      The language selection page is long and requires scrolling. It lists
and sorts the languages by their English names. It shows native language names
only as supplementary information after the English name. 
I attached some screenshots (made on Windows, macOS and Linux) with these
points marked.

Drawbacks
-       Non-English speakers need extra steps to download LO in their preferred
language. I easily overlooked the link “Need another language?” after answering
the question to download supplementary packages in their language with “No”.
While focusing on the gaudy yellow download button I also overlooked the link
“Choose other language” at the right side of the page.
-       For non-English speakers the sort order of the language selection page
is unnatural. Therefore, the language list is slow to scan. The need for
scrolling adds to the handicap. I was not able to find German language quickly.
-       Summary: it is cumbersome to get LO in languages other than English. 
-       At the end my conclusion was like: “Oh, things have not become much
better yet, now even from the beginning. Another missed chance for FOSS to
convince me.” At least I know now that this FOSS project has an infrastructure
that gives me the chance to improve things and my feedback is hopefully not
lost behind the walls of a closed enterprise.

Proposed solution:
1.      Detect the user’s preferred language automatically, e. g. from the
browser’s preferences or the user’s IP geolocation. This seems to be already
done.
2.      If existing, show a translated download page. 
3.      By default, provide the localized version of LO for download.
4.      In the language list, do list and sort the languages in their native
language name. Optionally: supplement the language by their name in the
detected language from step 1 or English. Jakob Nielsen, a UX expert, suggests
to list non-Latin languages twice: once in Latin characters in the proper
alphabetical order and once in the true character set at the end of the list.
Use visual symbols to describe languages. 
This would make it easier for non-English speakers to get LO in their native
language: either by one single click on the Download button or by finding their
preferred language quicker in the language selection list.

I’m open if your UX and web designers find a better solution and am willing to
work with them.

You find more information on language selections:
-       Nielsen, International Web Usability,
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/international-web-usability/ 
-       Offer, Best practices for presenting languages,
http://www.flagsarenotlanguages.com/blog/best-practice-for-presenting-languages/ 
-       Szilvai, My take on language selections,
https://uxdesign.cc/my-take-on-language-selections-945caceb58f7

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