Carry out research to understand who uses pip

[ei8fdb]

Description

This issue is an epic Github issue. It is to allow the UX team to track the progress of work that falls under this high-level topic.

Status

This GH issue in not yet ready to be discussed as we've not yet formulated our research objectives, so in the meantime we'll lock it until we're ready to start discussing it.

Overall objective of the study

The objective of this research is to understand:

1. How diverse is pip's userbase and how that affects usage?
2. How do user's disabilities affect their usage of pip?
3. User's mental model of Python packaging
4. Understand usage of pip
5. What communcations tools do pip users use, and for what?

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Research questions

Each of these research questions will be a separate Github issue, linked back to this epic.

1. How diverse is pip's userbase and what affect have on their usage?

In this research we'll ask questions like:

• How do you self-define your usage of pip?
• What is the pip user's background?
• What is their first language - written/spoken?
• How long have they been using Python?
• How and why did you start using pip and Python? Who introduced you to it?

2. How do user's disabilities affect their usage of pip?

In this research we'll ask questions like:

• What type of access needs do pip users have? (e.g. Vision, hearing, thinking and feeling, physical and mobility, other)
• Is there anything you'd like to tell us about your disability that affects your usage of computers - in relation to pip?
• In your view, what is the most pressing issues that needs to be changed in pip?

3. User's mental model of python packaging

In this research we'll ask questions like:

• What do user's think pip is?
• Are they aware they are using pip?
• Are they aware of what happens when they do pip install, upgrade etc?
• Do users know what is a package?
• Do users know how do dependencies work?
• Do users know what is a conflict and how does it happen?
• Do you need pip to build projects from source code? [advanced]
• Would a version of pip that only installed wheels be sufficient for you? If not, why not? [advanced]

4. Understanding a user's pip usage

In this research we'll ask questions like:

• Do users use pip interactive (typing pip commands) or automated (in CI or CD pipelines)?
• What is the thing that you have most issues with in pip?
• What proportion of users are using pip as part of a development workflow (where they do pip install on code of their own that they are developing) versus using pip as a package consumer (just installing other people's packages)?
• Do you audit the code you install? (I'm basically interested in knowing how much people expect pip to protect them, and how much they have thought about the problem). [advanced]
• How important are security and integrity features like hash checking and reproducible installs? Why? Do you rely solely on pip's features, or do you do anything else? [advanced]

5. What communications channels do pip users use and for what?

In this research we'll ask questions like:

• What is the thing that users have most issues with in pip?
• Do users congregate in communities? If so, which? Why?
• When users have questions, where do they go?
• What do they ask questions about?
• In their opinion what communications tool is most helpful? Least helpful?
• What is lacking in communications channels?

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[nlhkabu]

Note: some of these questions have crossover with / will feed into other epics. I'm listing them here for future reference:

Feeds into documentation epic (#8517)

• All questions under "What communications channels do pip users use and for what?"

Feeds into functionality epic (#8516)

• What is the thing that you have most issues with in pip?
• How important are security and integrity features like hash checking and reproducible installs? Why? Do you rely solely on pip's features, or do you do anything else? [advanced]

[pradyunsg]

ISTM that #10133 contains this research's output.