[Foundation-l] Wikimedia Donation Buttons Upgrade

[Brian]

Your goal, which is to have "a small change to the Wikimedia main skin [...]
result in big returns in donation" has been extensively researched in not
only the academic literature but by major online advertisers such as Google.
Since there are so many parameters that could potentially be tweaked the
best way to proceed is a dual hypothesis and data driven approach where you
experimentally tweak the user interface in order to determine,
scientifically, what the best improvements are. Simply modifying a single
variable will make it difficult for you to make a statistical determination
of the success of the approach. Since there is a direct financial incentive
doing this the correct way seems like an easy sell.

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 3:22 PM, Rand Montoya <rmontoya at wikimedia.org>wrote:

> (As this email may enact changes that affect the total Wikimedia
> community, please feel free to forward or post this email on any and all
> applicable lists. I would like as much feedback as possible.)
>
> Wikimedians--
>
> We have begun exploring ideas for enhancing the visibility of the donate
> button not only within the Wikimedia main skin but also on every page of
> every Wikimedia project. We hope that enhancement will enable us to
> better informing our public that we are dependent on their donations as
> we promote the free and open knowledge movement.
>
> We expect that a small change to the Wikimedia main skin will result in
> big returns in donations--donations we use to keep the Wikimedia
> movement alive and growing. I expect that in return for a bit of
> enhanced visibility, we will see a daily increase of up to 20% in
> donations.
>
> Working with the same professional designer that worked on last year's
> donation page (http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate/Now/en), we
> have culled his 30+ button ideas into 6 that represent some of the
> better designs.
>
> We have posted several design options for your comments and input here:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_2009/Donation_buttons_upgrade
>
> I would like your input and advice in figuring out both how to make this
> buttons look better and how to make the language around the buttons
> better. In addition, we are exploring adding different language
> underneath the Title Bar of an article.
>
> Design is only half of this change...words are important. What are the
> simplest words we can use (we are aware that these changes may get
> translated to numerous other languages) that will convey what we want to
> convey? You, collectively, have proven to be amazing at using words and
> communicating with our users. How can we reach them?
>
> One of these designs borrows from our look and feel from our previous
> campaign and another resembles the look and feel of Paypal. What do you
> think of those? We are curious about how look and feel associated with
> online payments will increase the need or opportunity to make a donation.
>
> The objective here is to take the average Wikimedia user and get them to
> recognize we are a non-profit and that our future depends on their
> donations. How can we better show our users that we are a charity?
>
> Again, your time and input is appreciated. To see the designs, go here:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_2009/Donation_buttons_upgrade
>
> -Rand
>
>
> --
> Rand Montoya
> Head of Community Giving
> Wikimedia Foundation
> www.wikimedia.org
> Email: rand at wikimedia.org
> Phone: 415.839.6885 x615
> Fax: 415.882.0495
> Cell: 510.685.7030
>
> “At some future time, I hope to have something witty,
> intelligent, or funny in this space.”
>
>
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