Re: [libreoffice-design] Question about stages of Design changes to Implementation

Hi Phil, all

You raise very important questions - but at the present state of our 
team and the entire community I can't provide you more than just a few 
thoughts...

Phil Jackson schrieb:
> I'm interested in learning about the process for taking suggestions for
> changes to the Interface that have been worked out in collaboration via
> email and Whiteboards, to the stage where programmers are either
> assigned or decide to carry out the changes.

In a volunteer community programmers can't be assigned - they decide 
about the area they want to work on, and nobody can force them to do 
anything else.

When we will have reached a status where developers might be payed for 
programming following the needs and requests of the community, this 
might differ.

But the most important and successful way to have a feature or a bug to 
be worked on (if you don't have the skill to code it on your own) is to 
convince others (in this case: developers) about the importance of your 
problem or feature.
> I understand the need for a formalised approach with checks and balances
> and appropriate authorisation.

We don't have this approach by now. There are structures to be defined 
like UX-Tags in bugzilla or an Easy-hacks page for UX / UI code 
development.

UX needs to be present in any UI related code development (but not 
necessarily involved with personal assistance for minor changes).

We need to define goals and a consistent way how to reach them by visual 
means. And we need developers interested in implementing our 
recommendations.
> Is there an overview or paper on this somewhere that someone can direct
> me to?

Not yet.

If you or anybody else could draw a first outline or draft, we had a 
basis to discuss here on the list and later on with the developers.

> I would like to understand this in order to know what roles I can
> provide assistance for. There will be people who liase between
> programmers and designers and I might be able to help in this area
> having experience of both design and programming.

Having people with insight on both sides of the curtain will help very 
much.

Programmer's language is quite different from designer language, but 
from time to time we're able to understand each other.

But the most important area is trust - if both sides trust each other 
that they take into account the other one's needs, ideas and proposals, 
this will lead to the most effective way of working together towards an 
even better and stable product.

So if you could help us by reading the developer's list, comment there 
on UX/UI related topics and integrate in this area, your work will be 
highly appreciated.

Best regards

Bernhard

PS: Please bear in mind, that the developer list is quite a technical 
list. Discussing new features might be necessary, but in a positive and 
integrative way. If the new feature is a positive development from what 
had been used before, the new feature can be modified later on in the 
time until the final release...

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