Several comments and questions: For the question on line 9, how is "Personal" different from "Hobbyist"? For the question on line 24, would lack of a theme really prevent someone from using Inkscape? The question on line 27 might be confusing. Do you mean which tool out of the 20 in the main toolbar? Or does it mean "features" more than "tools"? Also, that seems like an odd way of wording the question. Maybe I don't understand it? I don't understand the question on line 30. What is meant by "Features", "Usability", "Themes", "Ease of Use", etc.? Also, isn't "usability" and "ease of use" the same thing? (whatever they are?) I wonder if asking Inkscape users how to fix something will be productive? Only users who either are already developers, or have sufficient coding skills would be able to answer. Right? For the question on line 36, what is your purpose for asking about those 6 things, and not any number of other abilities of Inkscape? 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. All best, brynn ____________________________________________________________ From: Victor Westmann Sent: Sunday, November 20, 2016 11:46 PM To: Inkscape-Devel Subject: [Inkscape-devel] Survey Hi Guys, I was just wondering if we could run a simple and quick survey to our users to get to know them better and to know what they know about the software and how much are they involved with the project (software and community), This is just a draft so improvements and thoughts are more than welcome: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CcV6rEYq5iIzZKkx_qPU6G5rp0O5DUM0E... What do you guys think? This initiative took place inspired in the "State of JS" survey: http://stateofjs.com/2016/introduction/ Cheers! --Victor Westmann ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Inkscape-devel mailing list Inkscape-devel(a)lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/inkscape-devel

On Tue, 2016-11-22 at 03:57 +0000, Ken Moffat wrote: The developers list is for discussion about developer issues. These issues include (but are not limited to):  * build issues and packaging  * code issues and code review  * feature issues and interface design  * project management Users crop up in three ways, in what features are desired and how to design them, how the project should interact with non-programming users and how packages/builds are delivered to users. If we want to understand users, a survey might be useful. But running a user survey does not mean developers don't care about builds or build issues. It's likely the questions you're asking might either be waiting in someone's queue (because they're busy) or you may have exhausted the expertise of the local peer group. At which point, you are actually then the expert on that thing here. Which isn't great if you still have questions, because that means research and slowly picking apart the problem. Or it might mean cross- referencing with another peer group. For example asking gimp developers, or stack exchange generic questions to get a generic answer you can factor into the inkscape specific problem. If you're going (leaving the project? leaving the mailing list?) do let us know if you had specific issues. While the project tries to be a great place for developers to hack on inkscape, that's no guarantee that one's peers are going to be available in specific circumstances. Perhaps you would like to see a developer survey too? Best Regards, Martin Owens

I think the purpose of the survey should definitely be to collect useful data, but for that to happen *every* question must be worded in a way that collects a specific kind of data that corresponds to questions that specific developers or team-members have. Otherwise, it's going to generate a nebulous cloud of information that isn't directly actionable. Alternatively, one could do polls on the Inkscape G+ feed to answer specific questions of immediate importance, and space them out so it doesn't feel like filling out a survey. In fact, if we want questions answered, I'd do that and forget the survey entirely. My 2p. -C On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 9:07 PM, Ken Moffat <zarniwhoop@...3141...> wrote:

On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 07:33:58PM -0700, Brynn wrote: 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

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: 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