Comment on Big Tech Wants You Trapped. The Open Web Sets You Free
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks agoBut that’s the problem though, devs are notoriously bad at UX, and people good at UX don’t seem to care as much about FOSS and the open web. At least that’s my experience.
So we need people to speak out so devs can fix these little paper cuts in UX
Agreed, this has always been a major disconnect.
I’ll also say that devs are notoriously bad at “being a noob”. A lot of software just takes too much investment to get working - those that do not tend to be extremely predatory (i.e Facebook).
Devs need to create dead-simple software that has UX which caters to common actions humans would do.
There’s plenty of good, open source UX in FOSS. Have you seen the Gnome family of apps? They look great and are easy to understand.
They’re also pretty light on features, and GNOME itself is quite foreign for new users.
SorteKanin@feddit.dk 4 weeks ago
I’m not sure this is true - at least I have an alternative explanation.
People who do the UX design and all that are rarely invited into the process. Open source projects often look for “maintainers” but this almost exclusively means “developers”.
There’s documentation and contributing guidelines for developers. Where is the same material for product managers or designers?
We don’t get product managers and designers in FOSS because they’ve never been invited.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
What do you mean by “invite”? What would that look like?
My perspective of designers and product managers is that they like to own projects. FOSS generally works based on merit, where you first contribute and members of the project decide whether to accept it.
For developers this is easy:
That’s how it should work for design as well. Contribute some designs that you think will improve the UX and if they’re desirable, someone will take up implementing them. If it’s easy (e.g. a new logo), it’ll get done right away, and if it’s more involved, it’ll get done as devs get time.
Project management is trickier because that requires buy-in from the devs. To get there, you need go earn their trust:
If you do a good job, they’ll let you do the above more autonomously. But they’re not just going to hand over decision-making to a rando off the street, especially since “they” can change day to day.
Developers don’t like being told what to do (esp since it’s usually a hobby), but they do want the project to be more successful. Designers and product managers are certainly welcome, but the onus is on any contributor to demonstrate the value they bring.