Date

Sep 25, 2024

Participants

@Stefania Trabucchi - Moderator
Vineet Manuja – Moderator
18 attendees

AGENDA

Presentation of the Product Review Process – @Jenna Makowski (10min)
Q&A Session (10min)
Proposal for a new architectural design to better define the Open edX product strategy (20min) – @Edward Zarecor
Q&A Session (10min)
Last but not least: We hope to get some focus groups, ongoing progress or feedback.

Meeting Notes:

Introduction for new members/participants
Presentation of Jenna Makowski explaining the process for the Product Review
1. What does the BizDev group know about the Product Working Group and their Working Process?
  1. The Process to write a product proposal is quite complex
  2. The decision-making process of what goes into the product and what not is not clear and not transparent
  3. Platform needs and requirements come in most cases from the clients; a more immediate path to respond to client needs would be nice
2. What is really going on in the Product Working Group?
  1. Open edX Proposals (OEP) and Product Proposals are two different types
    1. Open edX Proposals: An OEP is a proposal that details a specific technology decision being made by the Open edX community
    2. Product Proposals: Changes for the product itself
  2. Who is responsible for deciding which proposals is being implemented or not?
    1. It is a dynamic process within the group
    2. The group has a framework in place according to which they are working and making decisions
    3. Factors for decision is market research, competitors analysis, etc.
    4. Decisions over what gets included is more specific to the kernel or reference implementation with wide open extension marketplace
    5. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SZswPg0-w4Du5YiqM3GL3U0KT_XFCkl1dRfd8vx5yZg/edit?gid=0#gid=0 This is a list Reference implementation
    6. Open edX Roadmap: Open edX Roadmap • openedx
    7. How to submit an open source contribution for Product Review
    8. Many proposals would benefit from customer usage data, or input on whether that theme / topic has come up before in conversations with potential open EdX platform adopters etc
    9. Is there a pathway for urgent proposals/requests in order to speed up their implementation into the product?
      1. Is a point to discuss (a concrete example would be good to better discuss this option)
Presentation of @Edward Zarecor explaining a new Product Design Strategy: [Link to slides]
1. [This is a draft presentation] This will be the approach for evaluating the proposals in the future
2. Current architectural initiatives are focused on creating a slim, well differentiated platform kernel and a reference product that uses primitives and services provided by the kernel. The existing LMS will evolve to become the reference product.
3. Additionaly there are other activities like the one to a flexible model of roles and permissions
4. How ot prioritize product porposal? @Cecilia Liu is working to democratise the proposal submission process, including a platform/tool to facilitate and track things
Explaing Current to Evolved state
1. Extensions: Will all the extensions be available to everyone? There will be a marketplace for extensions, a public one and maybe a fee for access.

Conclusion:

Today we managed to discuss “only” the product review process. It was confirmed that the group is much clearer than before. Nevertheless @Edward Zarecor confirmed to be available for the next meeting to continue the discussion about the current architectural initiatives and to get feedback from the group.

NEXT MEETING:

Continue the discussion about the architectural initiatives

How can we move things forward now?
How can we establish governance to initiate other activities around the focus areas?

Reach out to the members of your focus groups, plan your activities, and share updates at the next meeting on October 9th, including progress on sub-groups or individual initiatives

09.10.2024 at 3pm CEST

Open edX Community

2024-09-25 Meeting Notes