Hello everyone,
We introduced this upcoming change last week[1] on the Discovery list. At
the time, we didn’t have the full details to share, but wanted to let
people directly engaging with that team know that some changes were being
planned. We were originally going to share more details once they were
finalized. However, I realized after reading the post from Derk-Jan that we
should share the information we have now.
The work of the Interactive team[2], a sub-team within the team focused on
Maps and Graphs, will be temporarily paused beginning this quarter. These
efforts are important, and the Product Department is committed to
continuing them. We expect to fulfill our Annual Plan commitments related
to the Interactive team’s work, and are currently determining how best to
make this transition. But we need to take some time to determine the best
path forward for this team within Discovery.
We’ll communicate more broadly about the future of this work as the
situation evolves. Until then, we are going to review current bugs and
tasks that were committed to in the Annual Plan, as well as requests in the
community wishlist, and decide when and how to proceed.
We welcome questions and conversation, but have to ask some patience as
some members of the team are out of office at the moment. Please direct
further questions on the topic to the Discovery list.[3]
Thanks,
Wes
VP of Product, Wikimedia Foundation
[1]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/discovery/2017-January/001421.html
[2]
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Interactive_Team
[3]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/discovery
On Tue, Jan 24, 2017 at 5:26 PM, Derk-Jan Hartman <
d.j.hartman+wmf_ml(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
> The Interactive Team in Discovery is in the process of putting its work
on
> pause. The team's aim during this period is
to get its work to a stable
and
> maintainable state.
> Currently, work on new features is on hold. It is not yet known what the
> timeline is for this transition to a paused state, or whether there
will be
further
deployments of features that have already been completed. I will
update this list when there is more information.
Thanks,
Dan
--
Dan Garry
Lead Product Manager, Discovery
Wikimedia Foundation
So it seems all work on Maps, Graphs and other interactive features is
going to be halted pretty soon. I was directed at this notification after
a
Maps ticket mentioned:
With the team winding down
To which I asked:
Why is the team winding down ?
To which Dan Garry responded:
> There were expectations that were set regarding things such as team
goals,
working
collaboratively with stakeholders, and advance notice to
communities, that were repeatedly not met by the team.
And he pointed me to this discovery mailing list announcement, which well
isn't really an explanation as much as a statement on the effect that
'winding down' will have.
My interpretation of the information up to here was: "we are dissolving
this team because it didn't perform and by posting to discovery mailing
list we did the minimal effort required to notify people, but lets hope
nobody notices what the notification really means"
At the same time Dan's words are a rather hefty review on the performance
of a team, which I'm not used to seeing from WMF. Refreshing, but unusual.
This annoys me and I answer:
> 1: I'd expect this to be announced on wikimedia-l, if we start a team we
> always seem more than anxious to do so.
> 2: I'd like some details. I thought we had left behind all the "let's
try
> and hide this and hope no one notices
it"-shit in 2016.
> 3: Thank you team ! You did some great work, and it was more productive
> and groundbreaking than many other teams have been able to do in 5
years.
A bit hyperbolic on all fronts, I admit.
To which Dan responds with:
> I am not the person who made this decision. I do not know all of the
> reasons it was made. The person who made the decision is on vacation for
> the next few weeks. I am trying my best to communicate as much as I can
in
> her absence, which is why I made a public
announcement of all that I
know
now rather
than waiting weeks for my manager to return. I am afraid that
some patience is required until Katie gets back from vacation.
So now Dan doesn't know enough to be able to discuss this, even though he
gave a rather destructive team review earlier.
1: This is exactly the kind of communication that 'the community' keeps
complaining about. Reactive instead of proactive. Evasive instead of
transparent. Now volunteers need to spend time to figure out what is
happening here ? This has cost me over 3 hours today. I would have liked
to
have spent that time differently.
2: It shouldn't matter that Katie is on holidays, I'd assume/hope someone
takes over her duties while she is away (Likely Dan himself and/or Wes
Moran). Providing information on topics like this shouldn't have to wait
until someone returns from a (likely well deserved) holiday.
3: Why do I have to write this email ? It's really not that hard: Make a
decision, explain it.
DJ
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