Now hiring for Wikipedia Usability Initiative

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Brion Vibber

9 Jan 2009 9 Jan '09

1:07 a.m.

I'm very happy to announce that the Wikimedia Foundation is now opening hiring for the Wikipedia Usability Initiative! Realized by a grant from the Stanton Foundation, the goal of this initiative is to measurably increase the usability of Wikipedia for new contributors by improving the underlying software on the basis of user behavioral studies, thereby reducing barriers to public participation. We have three positions open, all local in San Francisco. See the linked pages for details and how to submit your CV: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Job_openings/Interaction_Designer_(proj… http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Job_openings/Sr._Software_Developer_(pr… http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Job_openings/Software_Developer_(projec… The new team will be lead by project manager Naoko Komura, who was very helpful in organizing localization and translations for our recent fundraiser, and will coordinate closely with me and the rest of Wikimedia's core developers. Also joining the project will be Wikimedia staff developer Trevor Parscal. As always, all of Wikimedia's software development is open-source, and we expect to be able to roll improvements into the live Wikipedia environment and general MediaWiki releases over the course of the project. -- brion vibber (brion @ wikimedia.org) CTO, Wikimedia Foundation San Francisco

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Remember the dot

9 Jan 9 Jan

7:13 a.m.

How can I submit a question for consideration in the Wikipedia Usability Initiative? There's been debate at the English Wikipedia over whether it would be better to place the search box at the very top of the navigation bar, or leave it below the navigation box. It would be great if we could get feedback from mainstream web users about the usability and intuitiveness of the positioning. The latest discussion about this was at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_talk:Sidebar#Moving_search_box_above… you're interested. -- Remember the dot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot

Casey Brown

12:59 p.m.

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 2:13 AM, Remember the dot <rememberthedot(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Asking the project manager might be a first step. :-) I don't know how she's planning on handling it yet, or if she wants suggestions now or later. -- Casey Brown Cbrown1023 --- Note: This e-mail address is used for mailing lists. Personal emails sent to this address will probably get lost.

Remember the dot

6:18 p.m.

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 5:59 AM, Casey Brown <cbrown1023.ml(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

Asking the project manager might be a first step. :-) I don't know how she's planning on handling it yet, or if she wants suggestions now or later.

Okay, that sounds like an excellent idea. But where can I find her e-mail address? It's not listed at http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Staff#Wikipedia_Usability_Project -- Remember the dot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot

Michael Bimmler

6:21 p.m.

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 7:18 PM, Remember the dot <rememberthedot(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 5:59 AM, Casey Brown <cbrown1023.ml(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Asking the project manager might be a first step. :-) I don't know how she's planning on handling it yet, or if she wants suggestions now or later.

Okay, that sounds like an excellent idea. But where can I find her e-mail address? It's not listed at http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Staff#Wikipedia_Usability_Project

with wikimedia.org, initiallastname should always work (jwales, sgardner, cbass, bvibber). Cheers, Michael -- Michael Bimmler mbimmler(a)gmail.com

Naoko Komura

10 Jan 10 Jan

12:14 a.m.

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 10:21 AM, Michael Bimmler <mbimmler(a)gmail.com> wrote:

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<snip> with wikimedia.org, initiallastname should always work (jwales, sgardner, cbass, bvibber). Cheers, Michael <mbimmler(a)gmail.com>

You guessed it right. :-) It is nkomura(a)wikimedia.org. I just added my email address to my user page, so that people don't wonder around. My apology for not responding sooner. I didn't see this thread till now. - Naoko

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<mbimmler(a)gmail.com> _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

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Casey Brown

9 Jan 9 Jan

11:43 p.m.

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 1:18 PM, Remember the dot <rememberthedot(a)gmail.com> wrote:

...

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 5:59 AM, Casey Brown <cbrown1023.ml(a)gmail.com> wrote:

Asking the project manager might be a first step. :-) I don't know how she's planning on handling it yet, or if she wants suggestions now or later.

Okay, that sounds like an excellent idea. But where can I find her e-mail address? It's not listed at http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Staff#Wikipedia_Usability_Project

I CC'ed her in the e-mail... didn't you see? :-) -- Casey Brown Cbrown1023 --- Note: This e-mail address is used for mailing lists. Personal emails sent to this address will probably get lost.

Naoko Komura

10 Jan 10 Jan

12:24 a.m.

On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 11:13 PM, Remember the dot <rememberthedot(a)gmail.com>wrote;wrote:

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Hello! Ideas and suggestions are welcome. The project is still at very early phase - getting the space set-up and recruiting people, but I will make sure to set-up the project page where we can share ideas and let you know once the page is up. Looking forward to working with you all. - Naoko

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-- Remember the dot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Remember_the_dot _______________________________________________ Wikitech-l mailing list Wikitech-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikitech-l

-- Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

Robert Rohde

12:37 a.m.

As a general question, is this Initiative about improving Wikipedia specifically or Mediawiki generally? Obviously there is substantial overlap, but the choice of focus does make a difference. If it is a Wikipedia Initiative, then one is unlikely to devote resources to extensions that are judged to be undesirable on Wikipedia. While an Initiative with a larger focus might choose to look at what limits to the adoption of Mediawiki for other applications. -Robert Rohde

Erik Moeller

12:49 a.m.

009/1/9 Robert Rohde <rarohde(a)gmail.com>om>:

...

Obviously there is substantial overlap, but the choice of focus does make a difference. If it is a Wikipedia Initiative, then one is unlikely to devote resources to extensions that are judged to be undesirable on Wikipedia. While an Initiative with a larger focus might choose to look at what limits to the adoption of Mediawiki for other applications.

The focus is to increase participation in Wikipedia, and improving MediaWiki is a means to that end. That said, as much as possible, we'll try to ensure that our improvements are generally useful, and we hope to broadly look for inspiration, both in the MediaWiki world and outside it. -- Erik Möller Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

Brion Vibber

1:19 a.m.

On 1/9/09 4:49 PM, Erik Moeller wrote:

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009/1/9 Robert Rohde<rarohde(a)gmail.com>om>:

And of course, the project team won't be the *only* people working on usability on MediaWiki. :) But their own time will be prioritized to Wikipedia. -- brion

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participants (7)

Brion Vibber
Casey Brown
Erik Moeller
Michael Bimmler
Naoko Komura
Remember the dot
Robert Rohde