Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Changes to Product and Technology departments at the Foundation

[Deborah Tankersley]

Hi James,

Does maps also include other rich content like graphs, charts, heat maps
> and other forms of data visualization?


​In reference to your question above, have you had a chance to read through
the email that was sent yesterday, in regards to the Discovery team? [1] We
discussed maps and graphs in that email, but not things like heat maps or
other data visualizations as those are not a part of Discovery's current
annual goals.

Cheers,

Deb

[1] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2017-June/08.html
​

--
deb tankersley
irc: debt
Product Manager, Discovery
Wikimedia Foundation

On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 9:07 AM, James Heilman  wrote:

> Looks like a reasonable change. Glad to see the degree of internal input
> that went into it.
>
> Does maps also include other rich content like graphs, charts, heat maps
> and other forms of data visualization?
>
> Best
> James
>
> On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 8:44 AM, Toby Negrin 
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Jan --
> >
> > Thanks for the question. We'll be making a more specific announcement
> this
> > week about the future of the discovery projects. Sadly we don't have a
> lot
> > of new information for maps in particular and will need to do a bit more
> > scenario planning before we talk to the community.
> >
> > As far as focus, most of our "reading" features are actually content
> > created by editors that is consumed by readers and maps is no different.
> > While we don't have specifics as far as the roadmap, both authoring and
> > consumption features are totally in scope.
> >
> > Hope this helps to provide some information (if not clarity :) about how
> we
> > are approaching this.
> >
> > -Toby
> >
> > On Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 2:21 PM, Jan Ainali  wrote:
> >
> > > 2017-06-07 23:12 GMT+02:00 Toby Negrin :
> > >
> > > >
> > > > The team working on maps, the search experience, and the project
> entry
> > > > portals (such as Wikipedia.org) will join the Readers team. This
> > > > realignment will allow us to build more integrated experiences and
> > > > knowledge-sharing for the end user.
> > > >
> > > Does maps going to readers mean that there will be less focus on
> editors
> > > tools for adding maps to articles and more focus on the readers
> > possibility
> > > to interact with the maps? If so, what is actually in the pipeline for
> > > maps?
> > >
> > > /Jan
> > > ___
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> > > wiki/Wikimedia-l
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> > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > > 
> > >
> > ___
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> > 
> >
>
>
>
> --
> James Heilman
> MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
>
> The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
> ___
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Changes to Product and Technology departments at the Foundation

[Pine W]

James: thanks for asking; I'm copying that question to the Wikitech list.
While we're on that topic, what's happening to multimedia? I believe that
at one time there was a multimedia team, and I could understand how pairing
multimedia with maps in the same team could make sense. If multimedia is
separate, it would be good to know where that's being housed now; I believe
that there's work happening with 3D files for Commons, and I vaguely recall
hearing about improvements to the Commons upload wizard.

Pine


On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 8:07 AM, James Heilman  wrote:

> Looks like a reasonable change. Glad to see the degree of internal input
> that went into it.
>
> Does maps also include other rich content like graphs, charts, heat maps
> and other forms of data visualization?
>
> Best
> James
>
> On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 8:44 AM, Toby Negrin 
> wrote:
>
> > Hi Jan --
> >
> > Thanks for the question. We'll be making a more specific announcement
> this
> > week about the future of the discovery projects. Sadly we don't have a
> lot
> > of new information for maps in particular and will need to do a bit more
> > scenario planning before we talk to the community.
> >
> > As far as focus, most of our "reading" features are actually content
> > created by editors that is consumed by readers and maps is no different.
> > While we don't have specifics as far as the roadmap, both authoring and
> > consumption features are totally in scope.
> >
> > Hope this helps to provide some information (if not clarity :) about how
> we
> > are approaching this.
> >
> > -Toby
> >
> > On Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 2:21 PM, Jan Ainali  wrote:
> >
> > > 2017-06-07 23:12 GMT+02:00 Toby Negrin :
> > >
> > > >
> > > > The team working on maps, the search experience, and the project
> entry
> > > > portals (such as Wikipedia.org) will join the Readers team. This
> > > > realignment will allow us to build more integrated experiences and
> > > > knowledge-sharing for the end user.
> > > >
> > > Does maps going to readers mean that there will be less focus on
> editors
> > > tools for adding maps to articles and more focus on the readers
> > possibility
> > > to interact with the maps? If so, what is actually in the pipeline for
> > > maps?
> > >
> > > /Jan
> > > ___
> > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > > wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > > 
> > >
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > 
> >
>
>
>
> --
> James Heilman
> MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian
>
> The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
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> 
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Changes to Product and Technology departments at the Foundation

[James Heilman]

Looks like a reasonable change. Glad to see the degree of internal input
that went into it.

Does maps also include other rich content like graphs, charts, heat maps
and other forms of data visualization?

Best
James

On Mon, Jun 12, 2017 at 8:44 AM, Toby Negrin  wrote:

> Hi Jan --
>
> Thanks for the question. We'll be making a more specific announcement this
> week about the future of the discovery projects. Sadly we don't have a lot
> of new information for maps in particular and will need to do a bit more
> scenario planning before we talk to the community.
>
> As far as focus, most of our "reading" features are actually content
> created by editors that is consumed by readers and maps is no different.
> While we don't have specifics as far as the roadmap, both authoring and
> consumption features are totally in scope.
>
> Hope this helps to provide some information (if not clarity :) about how we
> are approaching this.
>
> -Toby
>
> On Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 2:21 PM, Jan Ainali  wrote:
>
> > 2017-06-07 23:12 GMT+02:00 Toby Negrin :
> >
> > >
> > > The team working on maps, the search experience, and the project entry
> > > portals (such as Wikipedia.org) will join the Readers team. This
> > > realignment will allow us to build more integrated experiences and
> > > knowledge-sharing for the end user.
> > >
> > Does maps going to readers mean that there will be less focus on editors
> > tools for adding maps to articles and more focus on the readers
> possibility
> > to interact with the maps? If so, what is actually in the pipeline for
> > maps?
> >
> > /Jan
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> > wiki/Wikimedia-l
> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > 
> >
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>



-- 
James Heilman
MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian

The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Changes to Product and Technology departments at the Foundation

[Toby Negrin]

Hi Jan --

Thanks for the question. We'll be making a more specific announcement this
week about the future of the discovery projects. Sadly we don't have a lot
of new information for maps in particular and will need to do a bit more
scenario planning before we talk to the community.

As far as focus, most of our "reading" features are actually content
created by editors that is consumed by readers and maps is no different.
While we don't have specifics as far as the roadmap, both authoring and
consumption features are totally in scope.

Hope this helps to provide some information (if not clarity :) about how we
are approaching this.

-Toby

On Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 2:21 PM, Jan Ainali  wrote:

> 2017-06-07 23:12 GMT+02:00 Toby Negrin :
>
> >
> > The team working on maps, the search experience, and the project entry
> > portals (such as Wikipedia.org) will join the Readers team. This
> > realignment will allow us to build more integrated experiences and
> > knowledge-sharing for the end user.
> >
> Does maps going to readers mean that there will be less focus on editors
> tools for adding maps to articles and more focus on the readers possibility
> to interact with the maps? If so, what is actually in the pipeline for
> maps?
>
> /Jan
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Changes to Product and Technology departments at the Foundation

[Rogol Domedonfors]

Thanks for explaining that.  You said that two of the main goals were "to
improve our engagement with the community during product development,
develop a more audience-based approach to building products", and yet you
do not mention any discussion with people outside the organisation over
their needs and aspirations and whether the new structures under
consideration were more or less likely to deliver them – some people might
see that as a missing element in the process.  Perhaps you could say a few
words about how the new structures will improve cooperation and
collaboration in order to"better serve the movement".  You do see a need
for improved consultation, cooperation and collaboration with the
community, don't you?

On Thu, Jun 8, 2017 at 10:21 PM, Jan Ainali  wrote:

> 2017-06-07 23:12 GMT+02:00 Toby Negrin :
>
> >
> > The team working on maps, the search experience, and the project entry
> > portals (such as Wikipedia.org) will join the Readers team. This
> > realignment will allow us to build more integrated experiences and
> > knowledge-sharing for the end user.
> >
> Does maps going to readers mean that there will be less focus on editors
> tools for adding maps to articles and more focus on the readers possibility
> to interact with the maps? If so, what is actually in the pipeline for
> maps?
>
> /Jan
> ___
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> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 
>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Changes to Product and Technology departments at the Foundation

[Jan Ainali]

2017-06-07 23:12 GMT+02:00 Toby Negrin :

>
> The team working on maps, the search experience, and the project entry
> portals (such as Wikipedia.org) will join the Readers team. This
> realignment will allow us to build more integrated experiences and
> knowledge-sharing for the end user.
>
Does maps going to readers mean that there will be less focus on editors
tools for adding maps to articles and more focus on the readers possibility
to interact with the maps? If so, what is actually in the pipeline for maps?

/Jan
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] Changes to Product and Technology departments at the Foundation

[Pine W]

Hi Toby,

Thanks for sharing the reorg information. From my perspective as an
outsider, this sounds good.

I have a question about the sentences "The biggest change is that all of
our work in fiscal year 2017-2018 will be structured and reported in
programs instead of teams (you can see how this works in our proposed
2017-2018 Annual Plan). This will help us focus on the collective impact we
want to make, rather than limiting ourselves to the way our organization is
structured."

I would like to see WMF move fully to project-based budgeting (there are a
variety of names for similar approaches), and the change that you describe
here sounds like a step in that direction. Will WMF move fully to
project-based budgeting by the time of the 2018-2019 Annual Plan? That
would involve each project (such as "redesign of www.wikimediafoundation.org")
having a project budget, and the collection of chosen projects with their
budgets would constitute the Annual Plan. (The methodology for choosing
projects varies among organizations that do this kind of budgeting; I would
imagine that WMF could use its values, the outcomes of the strategy
process, and the annual Board guidance about the budget as major factors in
selecting projects.)

Thanks,

Pine


On Wed, Jun 7, 2017 at 2:12 PM, Toby Negrin  wrote:

> Hi everybody,
>
> We have made some changes to our Product and Technology departments which
> we are excited to tell you about. When Wes Moran, former Vice President of
> Product, left the Wikimedia Foundation in May, we took the opportunity to
> review the organization and operating principles that were guiding Product
> and Technology. Our objectives were to improve our engagement with the
> community during product development, develop a more audience-based
> approach to building products, and create as efficient a pipeline as
> possible between an idea and its deployment. We also wanted an approach
> that would better prepare our engineering teams to plan around the upcoming
> movement strategic direction. We have finished this process and have some
> results to share with you.
>
> Product is now known as Audiences, and other changes in that department
>
> In order to more intentionally commit to a focus on the needs of users, we
> are making changes to the names of teams and department (and will be using
> these names throughout the rest of this update):
>
>-
>
>The Product department will be renamed the Audiences department;
>-
>
>The Editing team will now be called the Contributors team;
>-
>
>The Reading team will be renamed the Readers team.
>
> You might be asking: what does “audience” mean in this context? We define
> it as a specific group of people who will use the products we build. For
> example, “readers” is one audience. “Contributors” is another. Designing
> products around who will be utilizing them most, rather than what we would
> like those products to do, is a best practice in product development. We
> want our organizational structure to support that approach.
>
> We are making five notable changes to the Audiences department structure.
>
> The first is that we are migrating folks working on search and discovery
> from the stand-alone Discovery team into the Readers team and Technology
> department, respectively. Specifically, the team working on our search
> backend infrastructure will move to Technology, where they will report to
> Victoria. The team working on maps, the search experience, and the project
> entry portals (such as Wikipedia.org) will join the Readers team. This
> realignment will allow us to build more integrated experiences and
> knowledge-sharing for the end user.
>
> The second is that the Fundraising Tech team will also move to the
> Technology department. This move recognizes that their core work is
> primarily platform development and integration, and brings them into closer
> cooperation with their peers in critical functions including MediaWiki
> Platform, Security, Analytics, and Operations.
>
> The Team Practices group (TPG) will also be undergoing some changes.
> Currently, TPG supports both specific teams in Product, as well as
> supporting broader organizational development. Going forward, those TPG
> members directly supporting feature teams will be embedded in their
> respective teams in the Audiences or Technology departments. The TPG
> members who were primarily focused on organizational health and development
> will move to the Talent & Culture department, where they will report to
> Anna Stillwell.
>
> These three changes lead to the fourth, which is the move from four
> “audience” verticals in the department (Reading, Editing, Discovery, and
> Fundraising Tech, plus Team Practices) to three: Readers, Contributors, and
> Community Tech. This structure is meant to streamline our focus on the
> people we serve with our feature and product development, increase team
> accountability and ownership over their work,