Evaluate the Communication Tools We Use and How We Use Them

Proposal by @Ali Hugo on behalf of OpenCraft

Topic

Indicate which topic your proposal falls under:

Overview

55% of Core Contributors think we use too many communication tools, and 79% believe we could streamline communication by combining some of these tools. However, before we can decide which tools to scrap and which to merge, we first need a clear understanding of how each tool is currently being used. We should also explore the tools used by other online, open-source, async communities to identify those that might be a good fit for our needs.

Solution

This proposal aims to compile a comprehensive list of the communication tools we use, along with an explanation of how we use each one. It also seeks to evaluate the tools used by other communities, to determine whether there are any that might work for us. We will evaluate each tool and document its strengths and weaknesses. The idea is that this document should make things easier when deciding which tools to keep and which to lose. 

Throughout our investigations, we will keep in mind that Core Contributors identified the following as their preferred tools, in order of popularity:

1. Discussion Forum

2. Slack

3. GitHub

4. Atlassian Wiki

5. Open edX Blog

Impact

While the impact of this proposal may be difficult to measure, having a comprehensive list of communication tools, along with detailed descriptions of their usage, strengths, and weaknesses, will make it easier to determine our final tool selection. 

Timeline & Team

This effort will be approached in an iterative manner, more or less following the steps below. Feel free to add any steps/information you think may be missing, or assign yourself to any of the tasks:

• Create a List of Tools: Compile a list of all the communication tools used across the Community

  • 1 week, @Ali Hugo + __

• Describe Usage: Investigate how each tool is being used, and document the use cases, highlighting any overlaps or inefficiencies

  • 2 weeks, @Ali Hugo + __

• Research Best Practices: Study which tools other communities use and why. Add any promising tools to our list

  • 1 week, @Ali Hugo + __

• Investigate the Viability of Certain Tools: 

  • Evaluate Discourse Chat (see screenshots) (to determine if it would be viable to move discussions to the forum)

    • Enable Discourse Chat

    • Migrate some small items to test how it works (e.g. migrate the channel of a specific working group, etc)

    • Test it out with volunteers

    • X weeks, assignee TBD

  • Evaluate Discourse wiki posts (as a possible alternative to the Atlassian wiki)

    • Post a wiki page on the forum instead of the Atlassian wiki

    • Investigate how to use categories/tags to organize wiki pages

    • Ask volunteers to review the page and provide feedback 

    • 1 week, @Ali Hugo + __

  • Any other tools worth evaluating?

• Evaluate Tools: Set up criteria for evaluating each tool, such as how well it supports searchability, ease of use, and public discussions

  • 3 weeks, @Ali Hugo + __

• Gather Feedback: Share the document with CC’s and gather any additional information

  • 2 weeks, @Ali Hugo + __

• Refine Document: Adjust / expand upon the document based on feedback 

  • 1 week, @Ali Hugo + __

• Share Findings: Share the document, and use it to inform any other efforts (see related proposal: Create a Shortlist of Communication Tools with a Focus on Open Source Options.)

  • 1 day, @Ali Hugo + __