On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 1:36 PM, Pete Forsyth peteforsyth@gmail.com wrote:
Closely related to this, though, is a really good software development opportunity. It's not exciting and would not grab any headlines, but it would make a big difference: if the workflow for processing deletion requests were made smoother, those engaging in it could get more done, spending more time considering each request and less time clicking buttons, typing code, etc; and if it were made more transparent and better documented (including useful links built into wiki pages and templates), it would be easier for new people (say, those from this list) to get involved and help process the nominations.
Quickly responding to this part: Completely agree. The process on Commons right now is massive overkill given the transaction volume on Commons.
Part of the goals for the Flow project is better management of workflows like AfD [1], and we will likely also want to build optimized workflows just for media files. That's what I was referring to when I talked about breaking out of the small group discussion patterns among the same people. Building accessible workflows is key to increasing diversity, in my view.
Erik
[1] See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Flow_Portal/Workflow_Description_Module -- Erik Möller VP of Engineering and Product Development, Wikimedia Foundation