Designing Inclusive Open Source Communities

Erin 'Folletto' Casali
Erin 'Folletto' CasaliVP/Sr Director, Product & Design at Xero
Designing Inclusive Open
Source Communities
Tammie Lister
@karmatosed
Davide Casali
@folletto
Davide Casali
@folletto
Tammie Lister
@karmatosed
Product Designer
Automattic
Founder
Baker Framework
Contributor
WordPress
UX Designer
Automattic
Contributor
BuddyPress
Contributor
WordPress
An open collective of creators
that unites to reach a
common open goal.
Open Source Community
The community is defined by
the community.
CHAPTER 3
Problems
Power
problems
Cultural
problems
Cultural
problems
How can you have a local culture
when the project is global?
Local Culture
Are your tools, documentation, forums,
reporting tools accessible to everyone?
Developer only spaces
Are your tools, documentation, forums,
reporting tools accessible to everyone?
Jargon
Do you require a specific timezone or location
to participate in the community?
Keeping up to date
Power
problems
How do you address the power inequality
of commit access?
Decision power is in the code
Who decides?
Who really decides?
Decision making
How do you communicate
when everyone isn’t like you?
Personalities
Who has the power and soft skills
to avoid conversations escalating?
Divergent opinions
CHAPTER 4
Diversity
In a social group, 

the coexistence of individuals
that belong to 

different dimensions.
Diversity
* but… the definition can be quite fuzzy in this context.
KINDS OF DIVERSITY
Cultural
Gender
Race
Neurodiversity
Ability
Age
Skills
Economic
In a social group, 

it’s an active process that
aims to acknowledge, express,
and increase its diversity.
Inclusivity
McKinsey & Co. (2014) Diversity Matters Report
WHY?
Diversity means a wider pool of talent.
Diversity means better understanding of customers.
Diversity means higher employee satisfaction.
Diversity means better decision making.
Diversity means enhanced impact on society.
McKinsey & Co. (2014) Diversity Matters Report
Gender Diversity
+15%
Ethnic Diversity
+35%
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
CHAPTER 5
Building
It all starts with communication.
1 / Personas
2 / Core Team Growth
3 / Delegate
4 / Onboard
5 / Many Ways to Contribute
6 / Transparency
7 / Credit
8 / Open to Failure
1 / Personas
Identify the personas
you want to involve.
TYPES OF PERSONAS
Designers
Writers
Event Organisers
Developers
Testers
Support
2 / Core Team Growth
1 / Personas
Leading chorus not leading voice.
Mentoring new contributors
Mentoring new leads
1 / Personas
2 / Core Team Growth
3 / Delegate
Different people enjoy and are
stressed by different things.
Focus on what you only can do,
not what you’re good at doing.
Thanks to Brie Anne Demkiw for the tip.
Create key forwarders,
not key doers.
BURNOUT!
AVOID
1 / Personas
2 / Core Team Growth
3 / Delegate
4 / Onboard
Your first contribution
How did it feel?
1
Onboarding… for each persona!
Identify easy ways to start
CASE
Tag simple bugs
with a special intro tag
CASE
UX-Feedback tag
on WP and impact
1 / Personas
2 / Core Team Growth
3 / Delegate
4 / Onboard
5 / Many Ways to Contribute
There are many ways 

to contribute.
You can… write documentation.
You can… improve existing tickets.
CASE
Guide making
new tickets
WordPress
You can… translate.
You can… run tests with users.
You can… support people.
CASE
Response Time
Baker Framework
1 / Personas
2 / Core Team Growth
3 / Delegate
4 / Onboard
5 / Many Ways to Contribute
6 / Transparency
Discuss everything in the open
Avoids groupthink
ADVANTAGE
New people get up to speed quickly
ADVANTAGE
CASE
Do everything in the open
even releases
Meeting etiquette
Timezones-8 -5 -2 +5+2 +8
1 / Personas
2 / Core Team Growth
3 / Delegate
4 / Onboard
5 / Many Ways to Contribute
6 / Transparency
7 / Credit
Props for every commit
Props for every contribution
CASE
WordPress
Release Announcements
CASE
WordPress
Profile Badges
CASE
Show history
of people in project
reat job
PropsGIVE F*CKING CREDIT.
1 / Personas
2 / Core Team Growth
3 / Delegate
4 / Onboard
5 / Many Ways to Contribute
6 / Transparency
7 / Credit
8 / Open to Failure
Admit your faults.
Show people
they can make mistakes
and still participate.
Accept changes in direction.
CHAPTER 6
Experimentation &
Iteration
Keep iterating on both
the community and the project.
Keep the project alive.
“
”
BRUCE LEE
Be water my friend.
Thanks
Tammie Lister
@karmatosed
Davide Casali
@folletto
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