FAQ:User Interaction Consultation

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Reading Mission

Our mission is to encourage the growth, development and distribution of knowledge.

Solution set

“Create new experiences for readers based on interaction with content and other users.”

• This is just one of many ideas we are exploring.
• We are aware that new interactions will need moderation. We will commit to working with volunteers to ensure we address those needs from the beginning. A starting point for us is the document that Risker put together on moderation needs.

Rationale

In a community based movement, our users are our top priority, whether they are editors who create Wikipedia or readers. We are asking for your ideas, because understanding the needs and behaviors of our different users is a must in order to deliver better experiences.

One way to help readers learn is to enable them to interact with content and with each other on Wikipedia. We believe that more engaged readers will learn more and that more of them will ultimately become editors.

As readers and volunteers, we would like to hear your suggestions for engagement mechanisms and will be posting some of our own to hear your input!

Examples:

This is a broad set of ideas that might fit within the solution set for increasing reader engagement.  These suggestions are not a roadmap.  It is simply a subset of interaction types.

General:

• upvote / like
• share
• follow story or topic
• rate / review
• highlight
• curate / organize into lists
• comment
• ask questions
• thank a contributor
• follow a contributor

Wikipedia-specific:

• double-check references
• wikidata submissions
• identify image that best exemplifies article (for hovercards and other previews)
• identify image centering (for cropping on other devices)

FAQ

Why are you asking me?

Wikipedia belongs to everyone, but particularly the people who have spent countless hours writing it.  Rather than simply build a new feature and ask if you like it, we are experimenting with bringing our stakeholders into the product development process earlier and earlier.  In our model here, we are trying to start with the problem and co-create solutions.

How do you plan to choose ideas?

Clearly, this is not a wishlist. This is a space that allows an opportunity to suggest ideas, and discuss them. After 2 weeks, we will promote ideas that got wider discussion/attention, and we will narrow down our focus from soliciting more ideas, to rounding existing ones.

What if I want to discuss this consultation or the assumptions made here?

Let us know here

Are you aware of previous similar exploration X,Y,or Z in this area?

We are definitely aware of several past and present projects that overlap with this solution set (such as the article feedback tool and Wikicomment), but might be unaware of others. If you think something is relevant, please point us to it!

I tried to add my idea/comment, but it didn’t work.  Help!

Email us here: reading@wikimedia.org