Results of Informix CD-ROM / on-line documentation survey

Recently two informal customer surveys were conducted to better understand Informix customers' attitudes towards possible CD-ROM distribution of Informix software products and on-line manuals. An e-mail version of the survey was posted to comp.databases.informix; and a two-page paper version of the survey was distributed to select participants at the recent Informix Worldwide User Conference. Thanks very much to all those who participated in the survey and thanks also to Informix's Robert Weinberg for tabulating the details and designing this report. ************************ Summary of Results ********************** CD-ROM Software Distribution: acceptible now, preference growing. Most customers (71%) could install Informix products if they were shipped on CD-ROM today, but a slight majority (54%) express a preference for traditional tape distribution. By 1994, CD distribution is expected to be the preferred medium (55% to 45%) and 94% expect to be able to install software via CDs. Only 12 percent of respondees currently have a dedicated CD drive attached to their workstation, but nearly half (48%) have network access to one; most (74%) expect to have network access to a CD drive by 1994, but only 22% expect to have individual dedicated CD drives by then. ----------------------------------------------------------------| CD-ROM-based on-line Manuals: acceptable now, popularity growing, WYSIWYG a plus, but not required A majority (56%) of survey participants would be interested in CD-based documentation as a separately-priced item today; by 1994, more than two-thirds expected that to be a product of interest. Today 44% believe it would be viable to distribute documentation on CD and charge extra for printed documentation. However, by 1994 the percentage willing (or expecting?) to pay for printed documentation increases to 56%. One survey question of great interest to Informix publications was how much importance our customers attach to having on-screen documentation match as exactly as possible our printed documentation. It the trade this is known as WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get). Twenty-five percent considered this feature very important, 55% said it would be nice but not necessary, and 20% considered it unimportant. However, when asked if it would be sufficient for the online documentation to indicate the corresponding printed page numbers, 71% said yes, 22% said no, and 8% had no opinion or didn't respond. --------------------------------------------------------------| Graphical Terminals: used by half our customers today, usage growing. Nearly as many participants (47%) currently work on character-based terminals as work on graphical systems, but GUIs are expected to be favored 2-to-1 by 1994. Many participants expect a move to a version of X-windows. (Motif is favored slightly over OpenLook/OpenWindows, while a smaller group expect to move to MS Windows. The Macintosh was a distant fourth.) ******************** Details ******************** Responses to the email survey were considerably more detailed than responses to the paper survey. The percentages quoted above represent combined results from both surveys. There were 37 responses to the email survey; 18 users responded to the paper survey. Email respondents answered with "yes" or "no" where requested, while paper respondents either checked boxes or left them unchecked, leaving it to be interpreted whether a non-checked box should mean "no" or "no answer". Most email respondents gave percentage numbers where requested; most paper respondents simply made check-marks. Therefore we have given more weight to the email survey in my summary above; besides, the paper survey was basically in accord with the email results. Here is a tabulation of the email results: (1) Product delivery: It has been suggested that Informix ship executable products (such as database engines) on CD-ROM media, as contrasted to more conventional media such as tape. (a) Could your company use Informix products delivered on CD-ROM? now: 24 yes, 11 no 1994: 28 yes, 3 no (if "no" to both, then when? ever? _________ ) (b) Would this be preferable to products on tape or diskette? now: 17 yes, 18 no 1994: 20 yes, 8 no (if "no" to both, then when? ever? _________ ) (2) Documentation delivery: It has been suggested that Informix offer its documentation on CD-ROM. Such an disk might include multiple manuals plus an on-line viewer that supported full-text search and retrieval. Would your company be interested in CD-ROM documentation... (a) As a supplementary product priced separately from other products? now: 18 yes, 14 no 1994: 17 yes, 9 no (if "no" to both, then when? ever? _________ ) (b) As the standard documentation, with printed books available only at extra cost? now: 13 yes, 21 no 1994: 13 yes, 14 no (if "no" to both, then when? ever? _________ ) (3) Equipment available: For this question, let "reader" mean "a person who often needs to use an Informix manual." At your company, what percentage of readers: (a) use character-based terminals (including PCs emulating terminals)? now: 47% 1994: 34% (b) use graphics-oriented workstations, X-terms, Macs, or PCs with Windows; in short, sit in front of bit-mapped screens? now: 49% 1994: 65% (c) have access to a dedicated CD-ROM drive attached to their workstation or computer? now: 12% 1994: 22% (b) have access to a CD-ROM drive or CD jukebox via local network? now: 48% 1994: 74% (4) Page layout: Suppose you had interactive access to Informix manuals. The manual on screen is typically not an exact image of the printed book. How important is it that the pagination on the screen be just the same as the book? __ very important, I need to move between the two media rapidly - 9 __ nice to have but I can go between them using index or table of contents - 20 __ not important, I will only use one or the other medium - 6 For your uses of an online manual, how would you feel about a feature that tells you the book-page-number of the text you are reading, but only when you specifically ask for it? __ not good enough, I want to see true page images - 8 __ that would be good enough for my uses - 24 __ couldn't care less, I will only use one medium - 3 (5) Future environments: Over the next 5 years, which of these graphical user interfaces do you think will be most important to the Informix users in your company? Rank from "1" the most important (or only), through "n" the least important. Platform Users listing as 1st choice 2nd choice __ Microsoft Windows - 6 8 __ X-windows/Motif 15 5 __ X-windows/OpenLook (including Sun Open Windows) 13 2 __ Macintosh