[Foundation-l] Interview: Wikipedia usability and test results

[Samuel Klein]

Thank you Ziko.  I always enjoy the unfiltered news exacerbated by the
Kurier... you should broadcast your work more than once a year.  And
Ms. Kimura is clearly a crack dictator, she should be miked up
regularly.  SJ

On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 6:23 PM, Ziko van Dijk <zvandijk at googlemail.com> wrote:
> Hello,
> A couple of days ago I have contacted our project manager in San Francisco
> who is dealing with the improvement of the usability of Wikipedia. I have
> done this interview for [[de:Wikipedia:Kurier]] and translated it to German,
> but originally it is in English and so I thought that I can also send it to
> this list.
> Kind regards
> Ziko
>
> http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kurier
>
> *Kimura: Wikipedia Usability by Better „Ranking“*
>
>
>  *Wikipedia is difficult to edit, many people say, and Wikimedia Foundation
> encountered the problem by installing Naoki Kimura as a project manager. Her
> team will make proposals to improve Wikipedia Usability. In an interview
> with Ziko van Dijk she unravels test results and the next step.*
>
> ZvD: Dear Naoki Kimura, previously you told us that you would run some tests
> about the problems of our new users.
>
> NK: Yes, first results confirmed that new Wikipedia users find it very
> difficult to link to the already existing community, to fit in and to learn
> the rules. Most difficult this is because the rules change and there is no
> clear authority. You don't know whom to direct to.
>
> ZvD: That is exactly the Wiki principle which made Wikipedia big.
>
> NK: But is it suitable to keep Wikipedia running? We lose a lot of people or
> scare them away even before they join, the statistics show us. Wikipedia can
> only go on by making the collaboration better.
>
> ZvD: So if I am a new user, what will change?
>
> NK: In fact, as a new user you already have only limited rights compared to
> more experienced users. You cannot vote, you cannot sight versions in
> Wikipedias with flagged revisions, and so on. This must become more
> systematic. So as a new user you will start as a „rookie user“, and after
> six months, after trainings and tests, you might become an „advanced user“
> and later a „user major“. A bigger step will be to become an „editor
> adjunct“ etc. In the end, you can become a „senior editor general“.
>
> ZvD: I see. And what about non editors?
>
> NK: You mean developers and admins? It will be the same or similar.
>
> ZvD: And the "commander-in-chief" of the three service branches will be
> Jimmy Wales?
>
> NK: Yes of course, that will not change at all.
>
> ZvD: So the word "edit war“ will get a totally new meaning?
>
> NK: No, there will be no edit wars at all! There will be no quarrels, no
> uncertainties, no cybermobbing. We will even be able abolish the talk pages.
>
> ZvD: Because everyone knows who is senior and has what rights.
>
> NK: Exactly.
>
> ZvD: But will Wikipedians accept such a system?
>
> NK: That is funny, you know. I worried about that until I presented the idea
> to the staff members in San Francisco. They told me that they are all Star
> Trek fans and when they were children at play, they called each other
> "captain“ or "midshipman“ or "commander“.
>
> ZvD: Naoki, I wish you all the best for implementation (it will certainly
> not be easy) and thank you for this interview.
>
> NK: Dismissed.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> Ziko van Dijk
> NL-Silvolde
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