Mara, Thank you for moving this along. I think that you got the spirit of my question. It was a bit ambiguous. I was trying to make a few points and then ask a question. I'll start with the question first this time.
Do you think that there are characteristics possessed by OSS projects and communities thatmake those projects better at user driven (at least user informed) design and development?
This question is based on your discussion about a) “Delightful Software,” b) the role that UX plays in a “Delightful Experience,” and c) some of the observations that you highlight about Code Centric-Culture and your reference to UI Designer Rashmi Sinha.
I was suggesting that many university-based online learning groups do not employ application developers and if they use an OSS application they do not apply substantive resource to code development for the project. I recognize that Sakai might be an exception because of its legacy, but as larger numbers of colleges, universities, and other education providers adopt Sakai, I would assume that this will likely become the case if is it is not already. That said, many online learning groups do have educational technologists, learning designers, graphics and multi-media artists/developers, content developers (frequently faculty), project managers, and other professionals involved with identifying, designing, developing, and teaching courses.
Many online learning groups also have a process in which learner experience is captured through evaluation. This is pretty much the case at Penn State World Campus, and was also true at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand. In the case of the World Campus we will be developing and revising dozens of courses and delivering & teaching hundreds of courses at any point in time. It would seem to me that the knowledge gathered through the process of designing, developing, authoring, and offering courses, could be well leveraged by an OSS community to enhance UI/UX, which points back to my question. What can OSS projects and communities do to capture this knowledge from application users who will not directly contribute code to a project? This is based on the assumption that the type of knowledge that could be captured and generated through design, development and teaching processes would be useful to user interface design and supporting improved user experience.
I am asking the question above, because it might play into an application evaluation and selection process. OSS projects and communities that are best able to enhance user experience through mechanisms that allow for non-coder engagement might be a software/community selection criteria.
This is an open question. If anybody has experience with other OSS projects or across multiple projects, please chime in with your thoughts on this.
Hmmmm, I am not sure if I cleared or further muddied the waters! Cheers, Ken
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