Re: Design in the open

[Allan Day <allanpday gmail com>]

On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 6:45 PM, Karen Sandler <karen gnome org> wrote:
> On Wed, April 25, 2012 9:27 am, Allan Day wrote:
>
> Echoing what Brian said, I like these suggestions for improvement! Are
> there any that we can turn into concrete initiatives that we can organize
> soon and perhaps fundraise for? Or build some initiatives for GUADEC? I
> include a few more detailed questions below along these lines.

It'd be great to have a BoF on design at GUADEC. I'm not sure what
availability would be like for doing a UX hackfest there, but we could
certainly look into that.

>> It is important to recognise that improving the state of design in
>> GNOME isn’t just the responsibility of designers. There are things
>> that all of us can do to help - from the release team and maintainers,
>> to individual developers and community advocates. Here are some of my
>> ideas for things that all of us can do to make design work more
>> effectively and harmoniously as a part of GNOME:
>>
>> * a more rigorous (and better documented) feature proposal process
>
> I think there's some confusion here - you're not talking about purely
> technical proposals here too, are you? I assume this is more focused on
> anything that interfaces with any elements of design...

Feature proposals aren't supposed to be purely technical, if my
understanding is correct - they should always have user-facing value
(whether we should have separate technical feature proposals is a
separate issue in my opinion). As such they are a natural channel
through which the community can participate in design activities.

>> * new tools for displaying and discussing designs, such as something
>> like Dribble or Design Hub
>> * a process for resolving design disagreements - perhaps maintainers
>> or the release team could mediate if a dispute seems intractable?
>
> I think we should definitely explore this more, it goes hand in hand with
> the other suggestions below - helping to stop bad behavior, soothing
> ruffled feathers and communicating better.

Absolutely - it would be great if someone wanted to do some work there.

>> * better communications about where GNOME is going and what the
>> project is trying to achieve
>> * some kind of active community management role to help soothe ruffled
>> feathers
>> * advertised designer playgrounds and discussion areas (for people
>> wanting to stretch their design wings)
>> * tackle bad behaviour across the project in a more proactive manner
>> (will ensure that disagreements don’t get out of hand)
>> * micro release-cycles in which new features are advertised, completed
>> and tested
>> * better testing facilities so people can test and give feedback on UX
>> changes before release time
>
> What would this entail? This sounds like it could be incredibly helpful if
> we could find the resources for it.

There are already initiatives that are pursing this, I'm happy to say
- both in the form of a new testing framework [1] and a role for
testing within the release process [2].

>> * keep a running list of design tasks that are appropriate for newcomers
>> * work to prevent design disputes - ensure early informal contact
>> between designers and developers at the beginning of feature
>> initiatives
>>
>> So there are lots of ways that we can do design better as a community,
>> and contributors on this list can all play a part in helping to make
>> us to be even more successful in this regard. It will take actions as
>> well as words to move forward, of course - if you want to help, or
>> have your own ideas, just get in touch.
>
> thanks, Allan! I'm glad we're having these discussions and hope that we
> can find ways for the Foundation to help too.
>

Me too. :)

Allan