# Installer Pain Points in Fedora Workstation

This is a list of the main user experience pain points with Anaconda, from a Fedora Workstation perspective. It is to be used as input to the ongoing Anaconda redesign effort, and is meant to be a summary of the main standout issues, as opposed to being an exhaustive list of every UI niggle.

Open Workstation installer issues can be seen [here](https://pagure.io/fedora-workstation/issues?tags=installation&status=Open).

Issues are in no particular order!

## 1. There’s no way for the user to configure the language and keyboard prior to using the live session

If someone wants to use the live desktop session in a language other than the default, they are dropped into a session with US English, and have to manually find the Settings app and change the settings from there.

## 2. Automated workstation installation isn’t possible

This is primarily an issue for our virtual machine app, which has an “express install” feature (you specify a few details up front and then it installs the OS for you, without having to interact with the installer).

See https://pagure.io/fedora-workstation/issue/85 .

## 3. Once installation is complete, there’s no prompt to restart

The “finish installation” button just closes the installer, leaving the user at a blank desktop. It’s even possible to run the installer again, once it has completed.

## 4. Hub and spoke looks bad, doesn’t serve much purpose

The hub only contains three spokes, due to much of the rest of the configuration happening in the desktop initial setup assistant. What’s left looks fairly awkward, and the hub and spoke model doesn’t add value:

## 5. Disk partitioning is difficult to understand

The default installation destination screen is complicated and quite confusing. The custom partitioning screen is also hard to use.

What we need for Fedora Workstation is:

* A really simple, straightforward installation route for the most common use cases: overwrite the whole disk, or install alongside an existing installation (likely Windows).
* Here it is important to show main options without exposing too much complexity, or expecting a huge amount of technical expertise.
* With custom partitioning, ease of use for relatively non-technical users is still important. Users will often not be experts and need guard rails. Common use cases include:
* Reusing an existing /home (partition or Btrfs subvolume)
* Spreading an install over multiple disks (say one for / and one for /home)

## 6. UX quality

While we don’t want to nitpick, currently there are a lot of small UI issues which combine to create a user experience that isn’t of the quality that we would like. While an installer can be a relatively functional experience, as an entry into the OS it does need to at least convey a sense of robustness, usability, and attention to detail.

## 7. Users have full access to the live desktop during installation

While installation happens, users can run any app they want, and make any changes they want to the live system. This has a number of issues, the most serious being that someone's use of the live session could interfere with installation progress.