Loomio design principles
I'm thinking about principles that could help guide Loomio design decisions. I'm going to start collecting relevant resources and document my thinking here.
Principles that occur to me are:
- Loomio is a neutral space (like Google Docs)
- User contributions are king
- The most used and most important stuff is most prominent and most available
- Simpler is better / less is more
- Fewer lines of alignment are better
This is for my own benefit at this stage.
"On the modern web, where far-flung strangers collaborate on things like authoring an encyclopedia and overthrowing abusive governments, it's still too hard for most people to contribute to open source projects. It's ironic, too, because open source collaboration was happening on the internet way before tools like Facebook, wikis, Twitter, and Google Docs existed. It's not for lack of tools, it's because of broken culture." Designers, Women, and Hostility in Open Source
@jonlemmon this article may be worth reading for ideas about nurturing our open-source community.
Just added another principle -- 'The most used / most important stuff is easiest to find'. I noticed that the Request New Group button is at the top of the groups box, and I thought that's wrong — RNG is something users do once in a blue moon, it should be at the bottom.
"There’s a question I try to ask myself when I’m creating something: “Is this true? I define truth here not as factual accuracy, but as fidelity to both intent and embodiment. A design is true if it fulfils its requirements judiciously, and yet surprises and delights its intended audience. An app is true if it has a purity of vision and focus, and serves its intended customers on their terms. ... Truth, in this sense, is the opposite of betrayal, or carelessness. It’s the antithesis of compromise, for any reason except making something as good as possible.” http://mattgemmell.com/2013/05/12/tail-wagging/