What really matters to our users and what do they care about most? Answering these questions are essential first steps to ensure that we’re measuring user experience and improving our products the right way.

Top tasks is a descriptive process that allows us to see which types of tasks are most important to the users and to guide future user research studies and development, ensuring that Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) can meet the needs of our users. The user research team at Red Hat is currently conducting a study to see what users see as the top tasks in RHEL and your input would be greatly appreciated! Please take a few minutes and complete our “Top tasks” survey.

In this survey, you’ll be asked questions about your background and general experience with RHEL. You’ll then be presented with a list of categories that each contain a set of possible tasks. You’ll select the categories you generally operate within and then select the tasks that are most important to you as a RHEL user. 

Your participation helps us deliver enhancements for the tools and features you value most.

We created the survey after a discovery process that involved generating and validating a list of tasks performed in RHEL. The initial list was compiled from a survey we gave to over 100 RHEL users about the tasks they generally perform. The tasks in the initial list were categorized using an analysis method known as affinity diagramming (Image 1). 

Affinity Diagramming of RHEL Tasks by Red Hat UX Research Team

Image 1: Affinity Diagramming of RHEL Tasks by Red Hat UX Research Team

Once the tasks were categorized into primary areas, it was validated by a group of four system administrators. We used that feedback to generate a short list and remove redundancies. 

Your help with this survey will allow us to whittle this list of tasks down further and help influence the RHEL features and functionality we focus on moving forward. Ready to help? Take the survey today!