Re: Ask the Council!
 

As a new user/community member the main issue for us newbies is taking the first step into this prestigious community but more importantly becoming a useful member. Personally i would love to develop my skills so that i could effectively product test (inc. bug reporting) and eventually develop my own apps for the community.

Already, i have seen a lot of new members join and moan about how their Phone/Internet Tablet doesnt work the way a normal phone would but surely the fun is adapting and improving it for your own and potentially the communities needs.

(Sorry starting to get side tracked)

My question is: One of your goals is to "Transform casual users into testers and bug reporters". What steps/plans have been put in place to achieve this goal and as a newbie what advice can you give in starting in this direction?

Thanks

Luflux

Re: Ask the Council!
 

To my beloved council Texrat,

This could belong a little bit to my Private Message I've send to you several hours ago. (and the other from early December) :D

I've asked for help at Brainstorm. But I get only a advice to ask the next instance. :)

I posted it here. You can read the answer from Flandry here or all together below. :)


So, during I started to merge the two Brainstorms I'm still hoping for help! :)

Re: Ask the Council!
 

I blame Gollum.

Re: Ask the Council!
 

No, but we just crossed the halfway mark. Anyway that's a really good question because you made me realize we don't have a mission statement to my knowledge.

Time for a pow-wow methinks...

Re: Ask the Council!
 

Specific to my goals...

Goals for next 6 months

- Improve maemo.org wiki articles

Well, I've mostly performed minor edits so far. Improvements to be sure, but not yet at the scope I'd intended.

- Work to ensure that Brainstorm is a productive, viable process

I've definitely worked at it! Hopefully it will come to something.

- facilitate increased/enhanced interaction with Nokia

Errr... that one has been frustrating. I get the feeling we've actually backpedalled there.

- Transform casual users into testers and bug reporters

Slow but steady progress being made!


- (personal goal: joke less, help more)

Ah... no. I have failed. :o

Re: Ask the Council!
 

This is a hot topic as can be seen here: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=41179

A lot of members, especially senior ones, recognize the value in improving our testing process. I'm not experienced enough yet to address details or offer advice but for now there are knowledgeable and passionate people pushing hard to lower the entry bar for users and make sure the process steps are useful and the results meaningful. They have been offering a lot of guidance here lately, in the thread above and elsewhere.

I am working on designing a framework I think would significantly help in this matter. The goal is to get as much of the experience directly on/from the device and minimize the hurdles testers have to join. Keep an eye on the User Experience Brainstorm proposal for further developments there!

Re: Ask the Council!
 

As you've seen, I've been frustrated lately by Brainstorm. It seems my understanding of how it was meant to be used is at odds with other key members. This among other things has caused an impasse. I'm not sure what to do.

I'm inclined to accept whatever Flandry wants to do, and that goes for you too. Action that isn't perfect is better than inaction.

Going forward I think we need more collaboration between Brainstorm proposers when overlaps or conflicts occur. And I am also working on a diagram of how I think this should work.

Re: Ask the Council!
 

I have a question for my fellow council members: can we have a conference soon?

(also asked on email list)

Re: Ask the Council!
 

New blog post bundling up several hot topics:

http://tabulacrypticum.wordpress.com...growing-pains/

(think of this as pre-emptive answers)

Re: Ask the Council!
 

I was asking if the Council thinks its mission has been accomplished. You answered that you realized that there was no mission statement.
Well, it can be OK. I seem to remind though that one of the key points in the Council blueprints was to keep alive a communication channel with Nokia and the Maemo staff.

Now, that's the most important issue in my opinion to guarantee feedback for both parties - community and industry. I bet that most of the work must be addressed there.

At least, to the point that the Council is prepared a couple of days ago to OTA upgrades, or maybe to the launch of the second Maemo device, and is ready to manage the waves and ripples generated in the community. Some kind of NDA could be needed of course I know.

What do you think?