Talk at Codecamp Iasi 6 Apr 2019, see https://codecamp.ro/iasi#agenda Abstract: What does it mean to design in the open, what opportunities there are and how is this different from 'normal' design. When I mention the word 'design', I refer to User Experience, Interaction Design, Accessibility, Usability and User Research. I am an open source designer for more than 10 years and I've worked with multiple open source communities. Designing in the open is very different from designing for a client. Even if every community has its particular rules, we can attempt to generalize the process, but still it is very unstable, blurry and with lots of unknowns: who is the target of your product, who takes the final decision in open source, how do you evaluate your prototypes when you can't meet the people that will use the product or when you need to address users with very different backgrounds. Closed and paid products are money driven and can be very specific, but open source projects have different motors and the developers and designers need to adapt to these constraints. There are many topics to be discusses related to Open Source Design, but I will try to give an overview of the process and introduce people that never experienced Open Source Design to the concept.

1. Designing
in the open
#CodecampRO@evalica

2. (*) fsfe.org — opensource.org — gnu.org
What is Open Source?
2 / 30

3. (*) fsfe.org
What is Open Source?
3 / 30

4. Can you make money with Open Source?
YES, but money are not the main
engine / purpose of Open Source (OS)
(*) ictworks.org 4 / 30

5. (*) https://blog.mozilla.org/opendesign/designing-in-the-open/
What is Open Design?
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The design type where
the process and deliverables are published,
in the open,
and anyone can comment, study and improve,
freely.

6. Open vs. Closed Design
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Open Design Closed Design
Process Public Participation NDA between parties
Deliverables Available, Reusable Proprietary, Confidential
Target Users Stakeholders

7. Open Design is
not limited to
Open Source
projects
But it’s easier for OS projects to adopt
Open Design processes
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8. Community
pushing for
Open Design
practices in
Open Source
communities
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Open Source Design
(*) opensourcedesign.net

9. Open Source Design participants...
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10. Open Design
@ XWiki
Over 950 proposals at
http://design.xwiki.org
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11. from
Brainstormings
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12. to
Research
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13. to
Planning
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14. from
Sketches &
Wireframes
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15. to
Mockups &
Prototypes
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16. to
Usability
Testing,
Accessibility
(WCAG)
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17. and
Analytics
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18. 18 / 10
#1 Myth:
My ideas will be stolen

19. 19 / 30
Remote &
a/synchronous
communication

20. Technical
audience &
committers
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21. Feedback &
Critique
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request it often and
also on unfinished work

22. 22 / 10
#2:
It’s hard to be a perfectionist
in OSD

23. Multiple Iterations (+ unique challenges)
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24. Consensus
through
voting (+1)
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25. Increase Time for
decision making
“The amount of discussion is
inversely proportional to
the complexity of the topic”
Parkinson's law of triviality (1957)
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26. 26 / 10
#3:
“Given enough eyeballs,
all bugs are shallow”
Linus's Law (1999)

27. Open Design Benefits
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● Gather feedback about the design direction
● Communicate design decisions
● Gain potential solutions, resources, tips, and techniques from
community
● Become accountable to an involved community
● Have impact by inspiring and teaching others
● Establish yourselves as leaders and innovators
(*) http://bradfrost.com/blog/post/designing-in-the-open/

28. (*) http://bradfrost.com/blog/post/designing-in-the-open/
Open Design Challenges
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● It’s uncomfortable to share work in progress
● Dealing with the feedback
● “Other people will take our stuff”
● Extra time needed

29. Participate in
Open Source
Design
http://opensourcedesign.net/
29 / 30

30. 30 / 10
QUESTIONS?
Sli.do #OSD
Thank you! Questions?
@evalica #CodecampRO

31. Want more? See similar talks
● Designers Can Open Source
by Garth Braithwaite
● Remotely Open: Design Without Borders
by Pedro Moreira da Silva