Re: Doc Sprint feedback questionnaire // Re: Doc Sprint Blog Post

Hi Jay and everyone!

First, I propose that we contain the scope of this* to better understanding
the contributing community and improving the experience of getting started
and contributing content to the wiki*. My "impressions" from the last doc
sprint indicated that we need to better understand our community and make
it easier for them to contribute:

   - Most of the attendees were familiar with web development concepts and
   technologies
   - Some attendees were exploring web development for career opportunities
   - Some attendees were attending the doc sprint looking for business
   opportunities
   - Some attendees were here to help build the barn – pure generosity
   (yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus)
   - Many people had trouble reading the Getting Started documentation
   - Most people were forgiving of the site’s usability shortcomings (like
   the infamous session ID loss).

So, questions designed to prove or disprove the above would first get us to
address what the community wants - *what's in it for them*, and then how
can we help them to contribute in return for what they want.

This information would help us *decide priorities and questions of
community development* as we consider such issues as merit badges, UI
design generally, workflow enhancements, and the whole range of issues we
are working on through the bug list.

To that end, *everyone working on an enhancement to the wiki could
contribute some questions* to this thread to help them design the feature,
and we could use the doc sprints to address those questions and even test
the feature - just as if we were real researchers wearing white coats and
taking notes through a one-way window.

Foremost, we need to understand our community better. *Let's ask:*

How did you hear about this doc sprint?

What do you expect to do here, and how much time will you spend?

How long have you been working in web development?

How would you describe your understanding of the following:

   - CSS
   - HTML
   - JavaScript
   - MediaWiki Markdown
   - etc.

What do you do for a living? What do you want to do for a living?

How do you want to use Web Platform Docs as a resource? (Some possible
answers: learn about web development, connect with other developers and
writers, establish my credentials as a writer or web developer...)

What expertise do you want to contribute to the wiki? (here I would suggest
a ranking-type question)

   - Building the reference documentation for (CSS, HTML, JavScript, APIs,
   etc.)
   - Tutorials in (CSS, HTML, JavScript, APIs, etc.)
   - Developing tools and processes for working with content

How do you prefer to interact with the community while working on the wiki?
(Comments, IRC, forum, e-mail list.)

I'd like to run though these questions *in-person with doc sprint
participants in action*. My theory is that we'll *get better answers* than
if we just point them at a form to fill out or a bunch of multiple-choice
questions. It's a conversation after all, *an on-going conversation* we're
having with the community about improving the wiki.

My own primary interest is in the *Getting Started pages*. We had a lot of
participants for whom they just didn't work. I'd like to test larger type
fonts, step-by-step workflows, better presentation generally, and I've
started working with Peter Lubbers to develop some short how-to videos to
test as alternatives to text.

The questions that would accompany this work would follow the A/B testing
methodology and observed success/failure rates of participants. We would
give them a challenge - like fill out the compatibility tables for five
HTML5 features in twenty minutes - and observe participants as they perform
the task. We get them to verbalize their thoughts ("I can't figure out how
to add another line to the table"), and take notes. *We could follow this
methodology for any feature we want to test*.

At the end of each doc sprint we *summarize the findings and discuss
solutions* in this (e-mail list) forum. For each doc sprint,
wash-rinse-repeat. Over time we'll begin to develop a cogent picture of
both the community and how well WPD works for them.

Much of this could be done apart from the doc sprints, and we could make
the questionnaire available at all times. If we could build a compilation
engine and results dashboard, that would super! I do think however, that
we'll get more value out of a two-way conversation than a cold, sterile
survey. And initially, at least, we need to *do something* that doesn't
require a project manager and a lot of development work.

Thanks! Happy New Year!
+Scott




On Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 1:07 AM, Andre Jay Meissner <ameissne@adobe.com>wrote:

> Hi Scott, great idea on having a questionnaire for gathering feedback. We
> could use this for the Doc Sprint in Berlin in five weeks already. Can you
> share/wanna start by sharing what you've got?
>
> I would like to extend the idea on a feedback form offered to attendants
> (which I would volounteer to create) shortly after the event (send around
> based on registration info).
>
> Happy new year, everybody,
> *Jay
>
>
> Von: Scott Rowe <scottrowe@google.com>
> Datum: KW 51 | Mittwoch, 19. Dezember 2012 23:44
> An: "public-webplatform@w3.org" <public-webplatform@w3.org>
> Betreff: Doc Sprint Blog Post
> Neu gesendet von: "public-webplatform@w3.org" <public-webplatform@w3.org>
> Neu gesendet am: KW 51 | Mittwoch, 19. Dezember 2012 23:51
>
> It shouldn't take a week to describe a day, and my apologies for the
> lateness of this post, but I (with thanks to Peter) have finally produced a
> wrap-up of the Doc Sprint in Mountain View on December 12th.
>
> Read the blog <http://blog.webplatform.org/>.
>
> In this post I included a proposal to develop a more formal approach to
> gathering user/contributor feedback during these sprints so that we can
> gage how well the site works for the community and make improvements
> accordingly. We should have a conversation about this - in a separate
> thread.
>
> Thanks to everyone who participated in this doc sprint!
>
> +Scott
>
>