Oh, don't worry, Victor -- I'm sure we can find some area where you can contribute!! And I don't think a survey is a bad idea. I think it just needs some set-in-stone goals, before the questions are written.
I think getting to know the user base is a very useful goal. But it's still too general, when one is trying to convince users to take the time to fill it out. But Bryce did give some specific areas which could benefit by a survey.
If you still want to work on it, maybe the questions could be tweaked, so they are gathering the right kind of info, for those specific areas?
If you want to give up on the survey idea for now, please feel free to contact me privately, off-list. I came to this "development side" of Inkscape, without a single coding skill (beyond some simple html). So I've learned about all kinds of non-coding projects.
For starters, I guess you've already seen these pages? https://inkscape.org/en/contribute/to-do-list/ and https://inkscape.org/en/contribute/
Or, what about writing wiki documentation for compiling Inkscape on Windows? Do you have the right kind of background to write it? If you need wiki access, just post to the dev mailing list and ask for it!
All best, brynn _______________________________________________________
From: Victor Westmann Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2016 10:18 PM To: Bryce Harrington Cc: Brynn ; Inkscape-Devel Subject: Re: [Inkscape-devel] Survey
Hi Bryce,
No worries. There's nothing to say you're sorry. You guys are right. You guys are more in the control of the project and far more involved in the daily routines than I am. It's good to here some lucid and sincere opinions. Thanks for that.
I thought it would be of great use get to know more the community and it's users. But I guess I'm the one that doesn't know much about the users.
I really try to help the project here and there but I didn't find, yet, ONE thing I could stick to it. Like the wiki to document procedures to compile Inkscape on Windows platform.
I'm still going to be around the community for some more time to see if I can get involved.
Thanks for clarifying your opinions on a survey like the one I assembled. :-)
--Victor Westmann
2016-11-22 12:50 GMT-08:00 Bryce Harrington <bryce@...961...>:
On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 07:33:58PM -0700, Brynn wrote:
Since part of your stated purpose is to learn "how much are they involved with the project (software and community)", I wonder if you might want to ask which part or parts of the community they're involved with - mailing list, forum, IRC, Launchpad, other, or none? Perhaps ask how much time they spend with each part? And maybe ask if they are primarily asking for support or offering support? Maybe ask to self-rate their knowledge of Inkscape - beginner, intermediate, advanced?
Also, don't forget to offer this survey to forum users ;-)
What do you think you might use the results for? That might inform other questions. Although having said that, probably the shorter the survey is, the better.
This last question is in my mind the most important - what are the goals of the survey and how will the data be put to use. One lesson that bug trackers teach us is it's relatively easy to collect more data than you can effectively digest. E.g. "what do you think should be changed about..." type questions will generate a LOT of suggestions that someone will need to parse down and summarize into something usable. The "what is the worst feature" might as well. So having a plan for processing the feedback into _actionable_ tasks is important.
Also, asking questions about interest in some feature or change might get interpreted as a proposal for actually doing that feature or change, particularly if the feedback is strongly positive. Unless we actually *do* have the manpower and interest in doing that task, the survey could be felt to be a bit misleading. The question on line 24 about blockers is going to hit this.
Sorry for the blunt critiquing above. I have seen so many terrible surveys that I have a visceral reaction even just hearing the word. :-) A lot are just thinly veiled fundraising or mailing list builder campaigns. (Fundraising and outreach are indeed important to the project but I think we should be honest and direct when we do it.) However, it looks like your intent is good here, and what you're doing may turn out to be very powerfully useful for the project.
Thinking about the data processing from the other end, we do have some efforts ongoing that from my vantage point might benefit from getting wider feedback such as from a survey:
* We're working on setting up a storefront for Inkscape merchandise. We have a bunch of questions about what types of products people would be interested in buying and so on.
* We're always in need of volunteers for a wide variety of efforts, from outreach to Django development to fundraiser organizing to bug fixing to event planning to actual development. Anything to help us attract and retain more volunteers would be a huge boon.
* Better understanding of the use cases people are finding Inkscape useful for would be very helpful. The questions on lines 6, 9, and 12 are good along these lines. However it would be more helpful if those could go into more specific detail. Also, be aware that many people probably use Inkscape for a variety of tasks.
You might consider making a table with different use cases down the left, and then columns with checkboxes for "professional", "personal", "not usable", "never tried", or whatnot.
And Brynn's definitely right - the shorter and more to the point the survey is, the easier it'll be for people to respond and the easier it'll be for you to process all the incoming data. :-)
Bryce
All best, brynn