Paper cut bug
{{Short description|Trivially fixable usability bug}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
In usability and interaction design, a paper cut bug is defined as "a trivially fixable usability bug".{{Cite web|url=https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PaperCut |title=The One Hundred Paper Cuts Project |publisher=Ubuntu.com |date=2011-05-11 |access-date=2016-04-03 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510045529/https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PaperCut |archive-date=10 May 2011}}
The developers of the Ubuntu Linux-based operating system describe it as a bug that average users would encounter on their first day of using a brand-new installation of the latest version of Ubuntu Desktop Edition.{{Cite web|url=https://wiki.ubuntu.com/One%20Hundred%20Papercuts|title=One Hundred Papercuts - Ubuntu Wiki}} The analogy is with a paper cut wound—small, not seriously damaging, but surprisingly painful. The use of the term has since spread to other software projects.{{Cite web|url=http://limi.net/articles/papercuts/ |title=Paper Cuts & Firefox 4 - Alex Limi |publisher=Limi.net |date=2010-06-21 |access-date=2013-08-17}} While some projects have dedicated projects or teams for it, others{{Cite web|first=James|last=Cowling|title=Embracing papercuts|url=https://dropbox.tech/infrastructure/embracing-papercuts|access-date=2021-07-21|website=dropbox.tech|language=en}} rely on regular practices to encourage paper cuts to be fixed.
History
The first "paper cut" campaign was in June 2009, and each such release has been accompanied by a paper cut project. Initially the project was intended to have Ubuntu developers and users identify and fix one hundred minor bugs that adversely affect the Ubuntu user experience and complete the work to be included in the release of Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. The intention was that each of these bugs would require no more than a day's work for a competent programmer.{{Cite news|url = https://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/06/canonical-to-boost-ubuntu-usability-by-tackling-papercuts.ars|title = Canonical to boost Ubuntu usability by tackling 'papercuts'|access-date = 9 October 2010|last = Paul|first = Ryan|date=June 2009| work = Ars Technica}}{{Cite web|url=http://wiki.ubuntu.com/PaperCut|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510045529/https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PaperCut|url-status= dead|title=PaperCut|archivedate=10 May 2011}}
The first ten of the original paper cuts were:
- Dim file icons when they were "cut" for later "paste" action{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/194213|title=Bug #194213 "Dim files when you 'cut' them for later 'paste' act..." : Bugs : One Hundred Papercuts|website=Launchpad}}
- "Move to Trash" option misleading{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/30739|title=Bug #30739 ""Move to Trash" option misleading" : Bugs : nautilus-cd-burner|website=Launchpad}}
- Ambiguous wording in confirmation alert box{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/349336|title=Bug #349336 "Ambiguous wording in confirmation alert box" : Bugs : One Hundred Papercuts|website=Launchpad}}
- "Eject/Unmount" Human theme icon in Nautilus should have hover and click states{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/383255|title=Bug #383255 "Eject/Unmount icon in Nautilus sidebar should have ..." : Bugs : One Hundred Papercuts|website=Launchpad}}
- Default folders inside Home Folder, e.g., Documents, Music, should have special icons/emblems{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/126103|title=Bug #126103 "Default folders inside Home Folder (e.g. Documents,..." : Bugs : One Hundred Papercuts|website=Launchpad}}
- Update manager should warn about laptop running on battery when installing big updates{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/377697|title=Bug #377697 "update manager should warn about laptop running on ..." : Bugs : update-manager package : Ubuntu|website=Launchpad}}
- Consistent Volume "Safe to remove" notifications{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/386057|title=Bug #386057 "Consistent Volume "Safe to remove" notifications" : Bugs : One Hundred Papercuts|website=Launchpad}}
- "Create Document" sub-menu superfluous when no templates are installed{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/387655|title=Bug #387655 {{" '}}Create Document' sub-menu superfluous when no temp..." : Bugs : One Hundred Papercuts|website=Launchpad}}
- Nautilus does not assign custom icon to "Downloads" folder{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/388570|title=Bug #388570 "nautilus doesn't assign custom icon to "Downloads" ..." : Bugs : One Hundred Papercuts|website=Launchpad}}
- Wi-Fi auto-connection asks for keyring password{{Cite web|url=https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/388593|title=Bug #388593 "Wifi auto-connection asks for keyring password" : Bugs : One Hundred Papercuts|website=Launchpad}}
= Dedicated projects =
Some organisations, like GitHub, have created dedicated projects{{Cite web|date=2018-08-28|title=Introducing Project Paper Cuts|url=https://github.blog/2018-08-28-announcing-paper-cuts/|access-date=2021-07-21|website=The GitHub Blog|language=en-US}} to solve paper cuts. They also categorise small missing features that are hard to make part of the regular processes as paper cuts. Combining this with amplifying each of the solved problems social media presence also helped seeing the value of each of the fixes.{{Cite web|title=Tiny Wins|url=http://joelcalifa.com/blog/tiny-wins/|access-date=2021-07-21|website=Joel Califa}} In GitHub's case the project was started when other community efforts like the browser extension Refined GitHub{{Cite web|title=GitHub - sindresorhus/refined-github: Browser extension that simplifies the GitHub interface and adds useful features|url=https://github.com/sindresorhus/refined-github|access-date=2021-07-21|website=GitHub|language=en}} were started for solving similar projects.