[Wikimedia-l] Questions for the WMF Board of Trustees?

[phoebe ayers]

Hi Robert,

This is a great question. Would you mind adding it to the wiki so we don't
lose track of it?

Short answer, not speaking for the board, bearing in mind that I missed the
past year of board discussions:

The board doesn't chose what technology to use but we do have end goals in
mind: first and foremost making the wikis easier to edit (for everyone),
and also better supporting non-desktop computer technologies (e.g. mobile).

We've also had some philosophical discussions about the direction of the
internet, and the web slowly turning less hands-on, with people's
experiences online siloed into a few big sites -- and what that means for
our projects which depend on the experience of saying "yes, I can edit this
thing". How do we make the projects attractive to new editors growing up in
a facebook world?

So I think we've certainly discussed the experience question in various
ways, though not to the extent of sitting down with look & feel/UI charts
or anything specific.

I think the board's role is to keep doing this, and also to help determine
and approve additional specific strategic goals for tech, including for
instance supporting community editing initiatives (like the wiki loves
monuments app), accurately and beautifully supporting all language
communities, etc.

You are right that UI and rollouts will be significant for the WMF, the
board & the editing community for many months to come :)

-- phoebe


On Mon, Jul 29, 2013 at 12:29 PM, Robert Rohde <rarohde at gmail.com> wrote:

> Phoebe,
>
> I am wondering if you (or another board member) would elaborate a
> little on how you see the Board's role when it comes to the evolving
> technical development of WMF projects?
>
> WMF has articulated a medium- to long-term vision for Mediawiki that
> builds on projects like VisualEditor, Flow, Echo (notifications),
> Parsoid, etc.  While I don't expect the Board to be in the business of
> choosing what technology to use, the WMF vision does seem to speak
> heavily to future changes in what the experience of editing Wikipedia
> (and other projects) will be like.  More visual and mouse based, etc.
> Is that something the Board ever involves itself in?
>
> Given current plans, it seems likely that questions surrounding
> changes in user experience and the deployment of new technology will
> be among the most significant issues for the editor community.
>
> -Robert Rohde
>
> On Sun, Jul 28, 2013 at 8:31 PM, phoebe ayers <phoebe.wiki at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Every year at Wikimania the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees hosts
> a
> > panel where they take questions from the audience on the work of the WMF
> > and the Board.
> >
> > In past years the board has also taken questions via IRC. This year we'd
> > also like to provide the opportunity to leave questions on a wiki page
> > ahead of time:
> > http://wikimania2013.wikimedia.org/wiki/WMF_Board_Q%26A
> >
> > While there is only time to answer a few questions during the session
> > itself, hopefully this will be a good way of getting questions from
> > attendees as well as from those who can't make it. The board will also
> take
> > questions from the audience at Wikimania, as time permits.
> >
> > Remember the Board doesn't deal directly with work on or problems on the
> > projects, and does not have a direct hand in how the WMF operates
> > day-to-day. Rather, the board thinks about the big picture, and gives
> > direction on strategy for the WMF. You can find out more about what the
> > board does (and does not do) here:
> > http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Board_of_Trustees and
> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_handbook
> >
> > best,
> > phoebe
> >
> > --
> > * I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers
> <at>
> > gmail.com *
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-- 
* I use this address for lists; send personal messages to phoebe.ayers <at>
gmail.com *