I have a problem. Like most of the existing OpenOffice volunteers I'm "too close" to the project. I see our website 100 times a week. I read every tweet, every Facebook post, every news article related to OpenOffice. I eat, drink and sleep OpenOffice. My wife uses OpenOffice. My mother uses OpenOffice. Because I am constantly close to OpenOffice I have a distorted view. I am unable to "see" the brand like an average user does. This lack of perspective causes me to be hypercritical about some things, and perhaps causes me to be blind to other things. Since many project members are in this same situation, there is the danger that "groupthink" and conventional thinking dominates.
You, as new volunteers, are free from this bias, at least for now. I'd like to take advantage of this interval, where you are interested in volunteering, but not yet over-exposed to OpenOffice discussions, to help us see the world better with fresh eyes. Some ways in which you can help gain a fresher perspective: 1) What does our website look like to a new user? http://www.openoffice.org. One exercise is to go to the home page, look at it for only 2 seconds (time it) and then close the window. Then write down everything you remember about the website, what text messages did you notice? What logos? What did your first glance tell you? What was your emotional response or qualitative assessment of the site? 2) The website is both functional, helping the user get the information they want. But it should also reinforce our brand, our message, our values. Taking a closer look at the website, with your fresh eyes, what is your impression? 3) Similar questions for viewing our social media accounts: Twitter: https://twitter.com/apacheoo Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/114598373874764163668/+openoffice/posts Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/ApacheOO What is your initial impression? Unlike the website, social media offers communications in two directions, a greater degree of engagement with users. Does it look like we're doing this well? Do you see any opportunities for improvement? 4) OpenOffice is it good or bad? What do the reviews say? Imagine you are a user who is thinking about moving to OpenOffice. You are aware of it, and know that it is free. But you are not yet persuaded to act. What resources do you consult to learn more about OpenOffice and what do they tell you? 5) A recent survey of brand recognition showed that only 24% of U.S. internet users recognized the brand "OpenOffice". So there is a large opportunity for increasing brand recognition. Imagine yourself to be a user in each of the following situations. In each case you do not even know the word "OpenOffice". What do you do to find and compare possible office suites? And how easy or hard is it for you to find that OpenOffice solves your problem? If this involves a Google search, what terms do you search for? A) You are a university student. You need a Microsoft-compatible word processor for your course, but Microsoft Office, even with the student discount is too expensive. B) You are an IT Director for Public Library or Community Center with a computers available for public use. You want to provide office suite functionality to their patrons. But you have limited budget, so commercial software licenses come at the expense of other potential user services. C) You are a CIO of a medium to large corporation currently using Microsoft Office 2003. Microsoft has announced that Office 2003 will be "end of life" with no support in April 2014. Are there any alternatives to paying Microsoft for a license upgrade? Feel free to grab one or more of these items and respond back via email. It is fine to have more than one person do the same item. We can then compare and discuss. Thanks! -Rob
