[Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [WikiEN-l] Improving dialogue between editors and "tech people"

[JP Béland]

I`m wondering why this discussion is on the English Wikipedia since it
concerns all projects, it should be on Meta in my opinion.

Thanks,
JP Beland aka Amqui

2012/10/26, David Gerard <dgerard at gmail.com>:
> Note the suggestion: set aside $1m of tech resources for community-chosen
> work.
>
> Heck, projects other than Wikipedia might get the slightest attention.
>
>
> - d.
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: WereSpielChequers <werespielchequers at gmail.com>
> Date: 26 October 2012 09:25
> Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Improving dialogue between editors and "tech
> people"
> To: English Wikipedia <wikien-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
>
>
> Hi Guillaume,
>
> Firstly move Bugzilla to Meta. Currently it is a different user experience
> to the rest of our wikis, and it isn't even part of the Single User Login.
>
> Secondly try to shift from a developer led Software program to more of a
> community led one. Yes of course there are going to be things going on
> which have to happen anyway for valid technical reasons, from what I've
> seen the WMF has a significant budget to invest on programming changes. But
> there isn't a way for the community to prioritise development projects. So
> part of the clash is the dissonance between the community empowerment ethos
> which is the norm for most community activities, and the disempowerment
> that characterises community involvement in IT development. If a million
> dollars of the annual IT budget was set aside for projects that the
> community could suggest and prioritise via a page on meta, then the
> relationship between IT and the community would be transformed, as would be
> the project.
>
> WSC
>
> On 25 October 2012 14:07, Guillaume Paumier <guillom.pom at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> [Posting this from my personal address because I'm not subscribed to
>> the list with my work account.]
>>
>> I've started a discussion on the technical Village pump on how to
>> establish a better dialogue between editors and "tech people"
>> (developers, Wikimedia engineers, etc.):
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28technical%29#Improving_communication_between_editors_and_.22tech_people.22
>>
>> I'd love to get more comments and suggestions, so that the outcome
>> isn't only representative of the subset of the community who reads
>> VP/T.
>>
>> You can participate there or here on the list, I'll follow both. Also,
>> feel free to advertise this discussions to fellow editors,
>> particularly those whom you know to be interested in these issues.
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Below is the text I've posted on VP/T:
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Hi. I'm posting this as part of my job for the WMF, where I currently
>> work on technical communications.
>>
>> As you'll probably agree, communication between Wikipedia contributors
>> and "tech people" (primarily MediaWiki developers, but also designers
>> and other engineers) hasn't always been ideal. In recent years,
>> Wikimedia employees have made efforts to become more transparent, for
>> example by writing monthly activity reports, by providing hubs listing
>> current activities, and by maintaining "activity pages" for each
>> significant activity. Furthermore, the yearly engineering goals for
>> the WMF were developed publicly, and the more granular Roadmap is
>> updated weekly.
>>
>> Now, that's all well and such, but what I'd rather like to discuss is
>> how we can better engage in true collaboration and 2-way discussion,
>> not just reports and announcements. It's easy to post a link to a new
>> feature that's already been implemented, and tell users "Please
>> provide feedback!". It's much more difficult to truly collaborate
>> every step of the way, from the early planning to deployment.
>>
>> Some "big" tech projects are lucky enough to have Oliver Keyes who can
>> spend a lot of time discussing with local wiki communities, basically
>> incarnating this 2-way communication channel between users and
>> developers. The $1 million question is: how do we scale up the Oliver?
>> We want to be able to do this for dozens of engineering projects with
>> hundreds of wikis, in many languages, and truly collaborate to build
>> new features together.
>>
>> There are probably things in the way we do tech stuff (e.g. new
>> software features and deployments) that drive you insane. You probably
>> have lots of ideas about what the ideal situation should be, and how
>> to get there: What can the developer community (staff and volunteers)
>> do to get there? (in the short term, medium term, long term?) What can
>> users do to get there?
>>
>> I certainly don't claim to have all the answers, and I can't do a
>> proper job to improve things without your help. So please help me help
>> make your lives easier, and speak up.
>>
>> This is intended to be a very open discussion. Unapologetic
>> complaining is fine; suggestions are also welcome. Stock of ponies is
>> limited.
>>
>> --
>> Guillaume Paumier
>> [[m:User:guillom]]
>> http://www.gpaumier.org
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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