UI module owner

[Benton, Kevin]

> Frédéric Buclin wrote:
> > As said in my previous email, we definitely need a UI module owner. From
> > what I have seen so far, Byron Jones (glob on IRC) seems a good
> > candidate for this role. In my opinion, he has very good and sensible
> > ideas.
> 
> Let's step back again.
> 
> 1) Why do we need a UI module owner at all?
> 
> Suggested answer, for working purposes: because someone needs to take
> the final decisions about what changes we make to the UI.
> 
> 2) What qualifications does such a person need?
> 
> a) They need to have a consistent and coherent vision of what the UI
> should look and work like.
> b) Therefore, they need to have a good understanding of Bugzilla's
> target user market(s), and their needs.
> c) They need to have a good understanding of the basic principles of UI
> design and interaction design.
> 
> Given that we are about to start doing work on personas to establish b),
> implying that we don't have a good idea of what the answer is, arguably
> now is not the time to be appointing a UI module owner because they
> wouldn't be able to do their job properly...
> 
> Also, note that "has good ideas for UI changes we could make" is not a
> necessary qualification for UI module owner. They are not expected to
> come up with all the ideas themselves; the skill required is sorting the
> suggestions and arranging them into a coherent vision, saying Yes to
> some and No to others.

I don't disagree with any of this; however, by appointing an "interim UI module owner," we can have an individual charged with directing us toward a point where we have someone who meets the necessary qualities.  By itself, that has significant advantages over asking the entire team to work in a coordinated way without having someone to coordinate things.

If Bugzilla were my for-profit product and I knew I needed a completely re-designed UI and I didn't have the time or expertise to do it by myself, I would appoint an employee to oversee the task of getting it done.  I wouldn't necessarily expect them to do the work, but I would charge that person with being responsible for the end result - a project manager.  IMNSHO, that's what we really need for the UI module - a project manager.  Because we're a volunteer organization, we need someone to step forward to the task.

> In fact, arguably, the UI module owner should have no ideas of their
> own, because then they will treat all suggestions equally :-)

I'm all for anyone who can be reasonably impartial and fair regardless of whether or not they've made suggestions of their own.

> > From what we saw in our last meeting, it seems we have no other choice.
> 
> Is it a good idea to make a "choice" because you have no other choices?

Actually, we choose whether or not we want to.  We've chosen not to have a UI module owner/manager.

> We do have at least two other choices:
> 
> a) decide never to have a UI owner

This hasn't been as effective as it could have been.

> b) decide to postpone the decision

Postpone it until what conditions are met?  Who is going to be in charge of making sure those conditions get met?

> If you are arguing that we should appoint someone, you need to explain
> why those two options are the wrong thing to do.

How about c)? (suggested above)

What about d)? (someone else's better idea :)

---
Kevin Benton
Perl/Bugzilla Developer/Administrator, Perforce SCM Administrator
AMD - ECSD Software Validation and Tools

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