Loomio
Thu 24 Nov 2022 10:18AM

Discussion: Formalize threading on loomio :)

J jonny Public Seen by 71

Hello!

I get confused when polls happen midway down a thread, and I think that we should firm up the way we use loomio relative to our decisionmaking process. Can we do something like

  • each proposal has its own thread

  • proposals start with the poll as the OP

  • proposals have a title prefixed `Proposal: `

  • when a proposal is a continuation of a prior discussion or proposal, the OP begins by linking to the prior context

  • proposal OPs are self-contained, including a description of the proposal and an estimate of costs and any necessary budget input from financial working group.

  • all other threads are presumed discussions.

  • threads that are not intended as all-instance business (like asking questions, member announcements, etc) have a different home. (does loomio have a more granular category/feed structure we can use?)

what else?

discussion, as per label, trying to figure out a way where there's a more straightforward way to tell what needs a vote from all members beyond being invited to a poll mid-thread. inviting input not dictating!

EL

Eliot Lash Thu 24 Nov 2022 4:44PM

I like this suggestion. If a poll is merely an informational "pulse check" then maybe it's okay for it to be a bit buried. But for membership votes I agree they should be very prominent.

Perhaps loomio tags could be used here? I.e. every proposal requiring a vote could be tagged as "Proposal" which can be filtered in the Loomio UI?

J

jonny Fri 25 Nov 2022 2:03AM

YES on the tags. what other categories of posts should we have? discussions, questions... I know we already have some of those but if there are any that are missing or would benefit from standardizing in a proposal

NS

Nathan Schneider Fri 25 Nov 2022 2:43PM

This proposal concerns me:

  • It limits our ability to use Loomio to its full power. For instance, having multiple proposals per thread can be quite useful for organizing processes around a single topic Ina coherent way.

  • It places barriers on members trying to participate in governance to do so "correctly," based on a long list of arbitrary preferences.

Instead, I would recommend:

  • A bit more guidance on the main page for users about how to stay up to date (using the lists of recent threads and recent polls, and getting daily email digests).

  • As @Eliot Lash suggests, set up Loomio better with tags to help users create obvious signposts for each other.

  • As the TWG is now discussing, broadcast more Loomio activities to Mastodon.

  • Already, discussions not intended for everybody yet should begin in working groups. That could be clearer.

In general, I think our response to Loomio UX issues should not be to constrain our ability to use the tool to its full power, but to better equip each other to do so.

NS

Nathan Schneider Fri 25 Nov 2022 3:13PM

All this said, I do support labeling formal proposals, following the logic of the bylaws, as "Proposal."

@[email protected] Wed 30 Nov 2022 4:17PM

i just created a poll and it was confusing, i thought it would auto-create a thread but it didn't, so I deleted my poll, created a thread, recreated the poll. Not sure what the right way is.

EM

Eduardo Mercovich Wed 30 Nov 2022 12:19PM

I do support the tags also, and both proposals tend to the same: make communication and action clearer for everyone. Since I have very little experience here yet I have no preference at this moment. But as an interaction designer, let me add my cent here: whatever we do, we must make it as simple as it could be (no more, no less) or people will be (auto) excluded.

So my question is: how much can we burden people with knowledge and procedures, and how much can we encode in/ support from software? (Loomio in this case).

NS

Nathan Schneider Thu 1 Dec 2022 3:15PM

As we develop the wiki, we should have a page on "how to pass a proposal" that walks folks through the best practices.