Node.js Foundation Website Redesign Strategic Initiative Meeting 2018-05-31 at the Node.js Collaborators Summit
- Recording:
<Recording URL>
- Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1gGwqydeSHa8CsqZW49X9u7AL0BUrxuao-oZXYox2c5k/edit
- GitHub Issue: openjs-foundation/summit#89
- Minutes Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vqo9KOkyKP8q9cirpjqEcYnuv1NpUClPhFgEUioPMXc/edit
@amiller-gh (Adam Miller) @chowdhurian (Manil Chowdhury) @tolmasky (Francisco Tolmasky) @add1sun (Addison Berry) @pouwerkerk (Pieter Ouwerkerk) @erulabs (Seandon Mooy) @me1000 (Randy Luecke) @tlobinger (Thomas Lobinger)
- progress overview
- content-focused discussion on Getting Started Tutorials
- user-persona brainstorming session
- logical topics for pages, tutorials, and scoped documentation
Adam: This is a content-focused discussion on Getting Started Tutorials, and a high-level overview of progress. Then figure out user-personas (who's coming to the site and why) and stakeholders and logical topics. Manil and I have been approaching this from a product-oriented flow. Process so far: Info gathering, then UX, and wireframes, then emerged voice and tone guidelines. Current phase: UI/content generation focus (high-fidelity mocks for the website; color palette, iconography, design system). RunKit/Stripe has given resources for a designer (3 months) for this process. This leaves the content section. The IA discussions have left us desiring content for guides.
Greg: What does IA stand for?
Adam: Information Architecture.
Adam: A couple blockers we can see in the future. Issue #13, is most important. The tech exploration is ongoing (#12 ). There will almost certainly be some religious debates (what should we be documenting), should we have an Express example? These are big questions, and we should have these offline.
Adam: First exercise: who are the stakeholders? We want to update the Node.js tagline. It does not invite or draw in new users.
(Brainstorming Exercises)
Adam: Opening up to discussion. What did you all think about these exercises?
Addison: The content on the website doesn't explain what Node.js is well today.
Francisco: Does anyone do a good job of this today?
Seandon: Rust.
Adam: Are we doing a disservice to people who are learning not
Seandon: Maybe an http
example? Or Express?
Thomas: I know what Apache and Tomcat are, I expect people may get the wrong impression of what Node.js is.
Addison: I was a PHP developer, I didn't understand what the application/possibilities of Node.js was, but this is the selling point. The problems of taking people down a prescribed path is you close some of the options. Imagine taking people through all these contexts and possibilities without making people walk far down a single possibilities.
Thomas: Like a dating site, almost.
Francisco: I don't want the paralysis of choice—the first date if you will.
Addison: Yeah, like one quick tutorial, then all the choices.
Francisco: And choose a particularly good and expressive example.
Seandon: Event-based, non-blocking examples are where Node.js shines, so we should emphasize these.
Francisco: And use the latest and greatest syntax: async/await. Things you're not going to find elsewhere.
Greg: And answer the question, why you should care. First that, then go to the tutorial.
Thomas: In the dating example I said, painting the picture of a person, instead of documentation reading giving user stories and something people can relate to.
Adam: I really want to find users that fit into these groups and take pictures and create these stories.
Greg: I can probably help with that. We ask in the annual survey if people would like to be contacted.
Adam: I'd definitely appreciate the help. In that survey, how do these categories map to users surveyed?
Greg: We don't ask all these categories, but three main ones.
Adam: There's also the legal questions too…
Greg: Yeah, Linux Foundation can add to that.
Addison: Definitely talk to Dan in the User Feedback group.
Adam: (wrapping up) We'll go through all these and come up with actual content for these topics listed. Maybe it makes sense to make a pitch deck for stakeholders.
Greg: Maybe we could use a CMS, for those who aren't good with PRs.
Adam: We have an open issue for thinking of using a CMS. So we're definitely looking into this! What option we choose will also depend on budget.