Hello all,

The Technical Decision-Making Forum Retrospective team invites you to complete a survey about Wikimedia's technical decision-making processes. While there will be more ways to participate, this is the first and most important step in our data collection. It aims to gather information about your experience, thoughts, and needs regarding the process of making technical decisions across the Wikimedia technical spaces. 

This survey will be used for gathering information about the process and the needs around technical decision-making that touches our production systems.

You can find the survey link here: https://wikimediafoundation.limesurvey.net/885471?lang=en

Who should take this survey?

People who do technical work that relies on software maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF)  or affiliates.  If you contribute code to MediaWiki or extensions used by Wikimedia, or you maintain gadgets or tools that rely on WMF infrastructure, this survey is for you.

What is the deadline?

August 7th, 2023 

What will the Retrospective team do with the information?

The retrospective team will synthesize the collected data and publish an anonymized analysis that will help leadership make decisions about the future of the process.

We will collect anonymized information that we will analyze in two main ways:

• Sentiments based on demographic information: these will tell us whether there are different needs and desires from different groups of people.

• General needs and perceptions about decision-making in our technical spaces: This will help us understand what kind of decisions happen in the spaces, who is involved, and how to adjust our processes accordingly.

Is the survey the only way to participate?

The survey is the most important way for us to gather information because it helps us gather input in a structured manner. But it will not be the only way you can share your thoughts with us - we will have more information soon about upcoming listening sessions where you can talk with us live. In the meantime, you are always welcome to leave feedback on the talk page: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Technical_decision_making/Technical_Decision-Making_Process_Retrospective_and_Consultation_plan 

Where can I see more information?

There are several places where you can find more information about the Technical Decision-Making Process Retrospective:

• The original announcement about the retrospective from Tajh Taylor: https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/IF3OJARL4WYKJYQAS7NTP4FT72R626EG/ 

• The Technical Decision-Making Process general information page: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Technical_decision_making 

• The Technical Decision-Making Process Retrospective on MediaWiki: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Technical_decision_making/Technical_Decision-Making_Process_Retrospective_and_Consultation_plan 

• Phabricator ticket: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T333235 

How to contact the retrospective core team:

• Write to the core team mailing list: tdf-retro-2023@lists.wikimedia.org 

• The Technical Decision-Making Process Retrospective on MediaWiki talk page: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Talk:Technical_decision_making/Technical_Decision-Making_Process_Retrospective_and_Consultation_plan 

Thank you,

Moriel, on behalf of the TDMP Retro Core Group

Core group:

• Moriel Schottlender (chair)

• Daniel Kinzler

• Chris Danis

• Kosta Harlan

• Temilola Adeleye

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Moriel Schottlender (she/her)

Principal Software Engineer

Wikimedia Foundation https://wikimediafoundation.org/