Re: [Ayatana] How Mozilla does community-driven open source design

[Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 2010-06-28 at 11:13 +0100, David Siegel wrote:

> Can anyone cite an example of a "unifying idea that can take away 10
> other ideas" from the Ayatana list, or are we generating "plenty of
> good ideas [that] don't work well together"?

I understand that quote to likely refer to a situation, where you see
ideas for solving several problems that are actually symptoms of a
deeper issue. So one good idea leading to a solution of the deeper issue
renders them obsolete.

That's why it's a good idea to start with (in no particular order):
 * Are you targeting the right problem?
 * Can the problem be avoided / worked-around?
 * Is it perhaps a symptom of an underlying issue?

Hmm, I have a hard time thinking of examples. I blame it on the hot
weather here. All my ideas there revolve around being lazy possible ...
I mean: as lazy as possible :}


If you are worried about a hodge-podge of ideas not working well
together, documented goals and assumptions should help.


> What can we learn from Mozilla's efforts in this arena?

Doing design challenges could be worth it.
http://design-challenge.mozillalabs.com/


-- 
Thorsten Wilms

thorwil's design for free software:
http://thorwil.wordpress.com/