Hi, I just wanted to add a comment about one of the discussions that happened during this hangout. Not sure if this is the best place to comment... Is there a better option for a place to continue hangout discussions after the event?
So the discussion was about the different types of TW users, which were categorised as 'readers', 'authors', 'designers' and 'developers', but also with the acknowledgement that there is a spectrum between these. This was related to how tiddlywiki.com should be structured to meet the needs of the different users without scaring off people with content that is too advanced for them. This concluded with the suggestion that the site should be broken up into more than the current two 'silos'. I think there is a risk that this approach could be counter-productive. It acknowledges the categorisation of users, but ignores the fact that it is actually more of a spectrum, and even more, it ignores the fact the users may well want to move up along the spectrum (a point that Nick made in the sidebar). By forcing people to put themselves into one silo or other, you make it much harder for them to progress beyond that category. I certainly found this with the current arrangement: it took me much longer to start playing with javascript than I might otherwise have done, because that was in the 'developer' silo, and I am definitely not a developer. Can I suggest an alternative model for thinking about the spread of users? A spectrum makes it too hard to partition content so that a 'reader' doesn't get scared off by a chance encounter with filter syntax and customising widgets etc, but silos put too big a barrier in the way of progress. Instead, you could think in terms of a ladder, or staircase of ability levels. A user would have a good idea of where they are on that ladder, and know that content on that rung should be comfortable for them, but they can also explore the next level up without being overwhelmed, even if they don't fully understand it. Importantly, they are immediately aware of the fact that this is 'higher level' content. In terms of how that could be implemented, one possibility would be to have a universal site, but with colour-coded tiddlers (just as the two silos are currently colour coded). Then, when a new user first lands on the homepage, they get a simple direction onto the rung relevant to them and they can feel comfortable navigating through content, knowing that the colour code will let them know if they have strayed off the path. I'm sure there are other ways to implement this sort of structure too. Apart from the practicality, I think that the language of ladders and staircases encourages people to climb, while a 'silo' makes people feel like they should stay 'where they belong'. Just a thought. Regards, Neil. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tiddlywiki. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
