[Commons-l] About the current Commons homepage

[Guillaume Paumier]

Greetings,

Le samedi 15 mai 2010 08:19:13, Hay (Husky) a écrit :
> 
> Now, i'm not trying to insult anyone, but i really think we should do
> a big redesign of the current main page, focusing on presenting what
> we've got and how we can invite new people to join the project.

I will join the "+1"s, and say I am extremely glad that you started to shake 
things about this issue.

> I'm
> not sure if the current grant from the Ford foundation also includes a
> homepage redesign, but that might be very helpful.

Not really. We have very limited resources (both human and financial) so we 
have to focus on the most critical hinderances to participation (like the 
upload form).

However, I strongly support a community-driven redesign of the main page; 
creating an awesome upload wizard is useless if users can't find it because the 
path from the main page or the sidebar is confusing. A main page redesign 
shouldn't require heavy development, so it is something the community of 
Commons can lead.

I am not too fond of vote-based contests, because they might lead to a shiny 
page that appeals to Commons regulars (who are the ones actually voting), but 
doesn't cater for the needs of new or occasional users.

That said, I would support a main-page contest between designs that have been 
screened from a usability and user experience point of view before they can 
enter the contest. I'd be happy to help in an official capacity and provide 
feedback and advice, so that UX issues are resolved beforehand.

-- 
Guillaume Paumier
Product Manager, Multimedia Usability
Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate