Principal Interaction Designer
The success of Slack says more about the lack of our UX
— Johannes 'fish' Ziemke (@discordianfish) January 25, 2017
skills as open source scene than it says about Slack's engineering.
https://twitter.com/discordianfish/status/824281126353125377
IRC
Slack
Windows 95
RFC 1459
A lot of things about the internet, technology, and society changed during this 25 year period.
"Hey, our API is open! You can use it!"
That's great, but you still might....
"We use open source technology and
contribute back."
"Well... our client is open source!"
OPEN SOURCE
PROPRIETARY COMPANY
CUSTOMIZEABLE
ONE SIZE FITS ALL
BENEFITS ALL
BENEFITS FEW
"Lulzbot Mini 3D Printer" by Maurizio Pesce on Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
- Adam Jackson, fedora-devel-list Jan 2008 (islinuxaboutchoice.com)
...But the chain of logic from 'Linux is about choice' to 'ship everything and let the user choose how they want their sound to not work' starts with fallacy and ends with disaster.
"Scratching its back" by Maëlick on Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0
It's not the flower, it's the whole ecosystem
https://simplysecure.org/blog/when-closed-source-wins
https://opensource.com/article/17/4/itch-to-scratch-model-user-problems?sc_cid=70160000001273HAAQ
https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/30/the-past-present-and-future-of-design-in-silicon-valley/
"Where once engineers used to rely on raw programming languages to create software; today, they build from open-source libraries and preexisting technology platforms. In the consumer internet world in particular, the marginal cost of software is zero—and design is now the differentiator."
"The past, present, and future of design in Silicon Valley"
Steve Vassallo, Tech Crunch
"Zakim Bridge" by Robbie Shade on Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Example: usersys static IP
"Tracing Relations" by Neil Cummings on Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
RESEARCH
DESIGN
VALIDATION
"Brainstorms at INDEX: Views" by Jacob Bøtter on Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
RESEARCH
DESIGN
VALIDATION
What's most important?
What stands out the most visually?
Sometimes alphabetical order isn't the best way to order things.
Sometimes alphabetical order isn't the best way to order things.
By default, show the basics, and allow user to open up more options / controls if and as needed.
"Onion Skin" by June Seita on Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Chunking like controls and information together and eliminating extraneous items.
Putting information / tips right where a given control / item is on the screen is the most visible and useful place for it.
Sometimes the user audiences are divergent enough that more than one focused tool can meet their needs better than one tool that tries to address everything.
#version=DEVEL # System authorization information auth --enableshadow --passalgo=sha512 # Use CDROM installation media cdrom # Run the Setup Agent on first boot firstboot --enable ignoredisk --only-use=sda # Keyboard layouts keyboard --vckeymap=us --xlayouts='us','ie' # System language lang en_US.UTF-8 # Network information network --bootproto=dhcp --device=em1 --ipv6=auto --activate network --hostname=pandafortress # System timezone timezone America/New_York user --groups=wheel --homedir=/home/duffy --name=duffy # X Window System configuration information xconfig --startxonboot # System bootloader configuration bootloader --location=mbr --boot-drive=sda autopart --type=plain # Partition clearing information clearpart --all --initlabel --drives=sda %packages
RESEARCH
DESIGN
VALIDATION
...unless you prioritize addressing the issues you uncover in your roadmap!
Please do this!
The Users
We Have
Open Source
Contributors
The Users We Need
(For the ubiquity of software freedom we all crave)
#1 Be inclusive
Avoid technical user echo chambers.
#2 Don't displace existing users
Augment and/or federate instead of replacing core functionality.
mailman email
hyperkitty web ui
Think about city planning...
Avoid design by committee by being clear about what you need feedback on and what you do not and who is making the final decision.
#3 Establish boundaries
You can use Gamestorming techniques to focus discussion:
The Open Decision Framework is a great method to follow:
No design decisions make 100% of those involved happy. In the absence of information, people assume the worst. It's easier to make peace with a decision you disagree with when you understand why it was made.
Be transparent from the start.
#4 Avoid conflict with transparency
The Open Decision Framework can help with this, too:
If you're not sure that the software needs a particular feature - don't add it. It is much easier to add something later than to remove it.
#5 It's easier to add, harder to remove
Image used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License,
credit: Randall Munroe, XKCD #1172
Example: anaconda partition cylinder placement
It's OK. Here's how to work together:
Designers focus on people.
#1
Developers focus on technology.
perspective
We can help you focus on the problem to solve.
You are the expert in determining the best technology to solve it.
"Drive-by" UX is hard.
How do you submit a UX "patch"?
#2
where is the long tail in UX?
UX contributions require a
longer-term commitment because
of the depth they require.
Designers tend to use closed-source, proprietary tools.
#3
Idealism v. pragmatism
They don't need to, mind you.
But... be nice!
Start with standard, open formats for assets and go from there...
Their annoyance at the "Creative Cloud" is an opportunity here...
(an aside... a UX workflow using open source tools...)
Inkscape
Gimp
Sparkleshare
GitLab
MarkDown
Riot.im
Paper & Pencil :)
Whiteboards + Sticky Notes
'Release early and release often' is a familiar open source mantra.
#4
the big reveal
This can be difficult for designers who prefer sharing curated, polished designs.
Please help them.
In open source, often they who have commit rights and code have the final say.
#5
no ace in the hole
Designers don't have this. You need to visibly and publicly support their work in your community to help balance this out.
Please remember as in any cultural differences in opinion involving open source...
#6
shared vision
We have an authentic shared vision we passionately believe in: improve the world with open source technology, making software freedom accessible to all.
The open source vision is compelling and inspiring to designers.
UX designer
open source
contributor
UX designer
open source
contributor
http://opensourcedesign.net/
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Thank you.