(Sorry for cross-posting - for answers: I am only subscribed to the design
list)
Dear fellow UX community & board of directors!
I have to write this mail, because I feel very unhappy about the result of the
LO-Android Tender [1].
First, I was very pleased to see how the tender addresses the interface (Part
3 of the tender), even giving an explicit reference to "jointly working with
our volunteer UX and design team for design considerations". Setting upon
this, we (User Prompt) decided to bid (together with Collabora) on the tender.
After a couple of weeks we got the result and in there Florian stated:
"ii. Refrain from ordering work package 3 (basis touch UI), so no bidder will
be awarded that part of the tender for the moment".
For various reasons this is unfortunate (to stay mild in my words).
First this was decided without communication of any reasons, so this sentence
stands for its own. As such it strongly communicates that UX / Design is of no
importance for the BoD. This - for me - is a wrong signal for the design
community and is extremely discouraging for future voluntary participation.
Also it shows a fundamental misconception within the BoD of which role UX
plays (not just for LibreOffice, but for projects in general). Stating "for the
moment" might be a hint that some time later something will be done here.
Unfortunately there is nothing like LibreOffice on Android without an Interface
in the first place. If the result of the tender was just code optimization and
general frameworking to make it possible to run LO on Android, ok. But instead
there are interfaces and their actual design will set the reference for adding
new features. So, the dropped work package will have to be done anyhow in
order to be able to present something - with the decision of the board just
without involving the UX community and without explicit UX expertise.
Generally UX work should be done early in a project, because it defines what
features are needed, how they are related to each other and how the interface
should look like. Doing this after implementation either creates massive
unneeded work to change the existing to what is needed or - more likely - it
will actually never be done, as things have established (most likely in a sub
optimal manner).
The UX / design group currently is not in a good shape and this kind of
decision and the communication of it discourages volunteer work even further.
To keep the existing and attract new people to this group, we need to be shown
more respect. Please, Board of Directors, do so with your future decisions and
communication.
Thanks for your attention.
Björn
[1]
http://blog.documentfoundation.org/2014/09/04/tender-for-base-framework-for-an-android-version-of-libreoffice-with-basic-editing-capabilities-201409-01/
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- [libreoffice-design] Respecting the UX community · Björn Balazs
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