1. if you have a slow computer, then a "boot up" sequence IS 5min! so only "5min WU" are not possible on those computers!

2. a description of "5min WU" is inaccurate to say...let me give you an example...like saying a "5min trip", without specifying what type of trip it is or with what commute service (limp, walk, run, cycling, bus, tram, subway, car, sports car, super car, jet liner, stream jet, airplane, scram jet suborbital vehicle, etc.)...did you get the point?
you must specify the FLOPs for specific WU you want on WCG!

3. you have to explain to me "what do these people do for 5min ONLY on their computer, so they need to turn them OFF?"

4. what kind of badges do you expect those people to earn? they WILL NOT earn any badge with "5min WUs"...so why would they stay?

I think that for something like this to work will have to weigh in other factors. I think realistically it needs controlled server side as suggested above. Here is why.

Challenges. People will want to run the shorter work units in favor of completing the work quickly and these people will probably drain ques.

Short work units will put a lot more strain on the servers and will cause databases to grow quite large.

If work units aren't shortened and deadlines are just extended, this will cause bloated databases. A bloated database will again put strain on the servers.

I think a multi threaded app would help a great deal. But as noted above, it is up to scientists to deliver applications to WCG.

I honestly don't see people going through the hassle of setting everything up just to be discouraged about their 5 minutes a day not sufficing. I think people are more discouraged with the account creation, software download/install, and then the tweaking typically necessary to make it work smoothly that really pushes them away. The mass majority of computer users are computer dumb. They want it simple with a set and forget environment. I personally have found it better to set things up for them than to tell them and instruct them on how to do it. Those systems tend to stick around significantly longer.

Android is a totally different game altogether!
So yes, Android WU should be a lot smaller...to get the crunching time in order!

But not PCs...until some don't come on time!

I consider myself a pretty dedicated cruncher and I barely ever look at work unit stats. Maybe I'm the exception but I don't think that most people who install BOINC on their machines really care about such things. For most, BOINC should be set and forget. Its default settings should let it run unobtrusively in the background with minimal impact on the user experience as it relates to how they interact with their computer.

I think BOINC has done a reasonably good job of meeting that goal over the years and the average person who just wants to make a contribution isn't especially concerned about points and badges.

What most people do care about is feeling that they are being recognized for the work their computers are contributing. We saw that with the CfG giveaway. It was the only thing that slowed the long slow slide we have seen in active members as noted in Sekerob's charts, specifically this one - http://s137.photobucket.com/user/Sekerob/media/WCGYearsMembers.png.html

The green active member line at the bottom right tells the whole story. For nearly 90k active users in 2009 we are down to under 65k active users now. And if you look at the BOINC Stats charts here , you can see that we've lost 2000 active users in just the past 2 months.

The only bump in that green line referenced above was when the CfG giveaway was in force and even that didn't really move the needle by that much. As you can see, we are now back on our long slow glide path to oblivion unless something is done to both promote WCG to people who still actually use desktop computers, a dwindling user base to be sure, as well as doing whatever possible to retain the interest and excitement that people joining WCG for the first time often express.

As I've said many times before, WCG seems to have no interest in either attracting or retaining volunteers. There are no promotional efforts, no effort of any kind to try to create a real community here and no effort to try to maintain the interest of those few people who despite the lack of projects, still want to participate here.

Actually, not only did I notice that but when I got the email describing the program a few weeks ago, I immediately put the link on the one active facebook page I have.

People who are active in the community here have always tried to recruit others. I've recently returned to one of my old teams, TPU, and they are a perfect example of that.

But offering badges to get friends involved isn't going to work because the people who actually care about such things are already involved and telling people about WCG and for those who aren't, it's not going to make much of a difference.

WCG needs to find other ways to promote itself other than just word of mouth, which is what that particular program amounts to. We don't have enough people here to begin with to make word of mouth a viable option and beyond that, we are losing people at a rate of about 1000 per month. Offering some silly badges for recruiting isn't going to make a dent in that decline.

If WCG is going to have a future it has to be modeled after other online communities and actively promote itself. It simply doesn't do that. All the staff can seem to come up with are half-measures that no one really expects to have an impact anyway. It's just something to do so that they can say that they made some sort of effort when IBM comes back and asks them why the active user stats continue to be so abysmal.

Why do you think we had that survey last year? But did any of the work done as a result of it help prop up our user base? No. Because no one from the staff asked for our input on what the survey should include - what the people here thought were the real issues with WCG. And that is characteristic of how they operate. As long as that's the case, we will continue to lose people. It's simply inevitable. Only a sea change in how this place is run will change that and that will only come if IBM ever decides that they care enough to actually do something like make an active effort to promote WCG and create a real community here.