Technical Volunteer needed — help me find “Inclusivity Bugs”!
One of the things I’m researching is how to be more deliberate about connecting already technical people to open source contribution as a career bridge. I’ve already spoken with a number of contributors who leveled-up their skills for better jobs during maternity leave, or who changed careers altogether with skills learned while contributing.
“ At my age, getting an internship at a tech company, is as likely as a Rhinoceros flying across the Atlantic — former teacher turned professional web developer thanks to open source contribution.
While I have some emerging standards for project self-evaluation, I’ve never tried a user-testing approach to better understand diverse contributor’s experience in real time.
Because life is full of transitions… our requirements for success also change.
The point I am getting to… I need 5 volunteers to help me with this new research approach:
If you :
- (Imposter Syndrome aside) Feel reasonably confident with web programming and technology (employed, intern, or making technology for yourself).
- Have 1.5 hours of time this month, and would be willing to walk through a series of steps to make your first contribution.
- Would be willing to screen-cast your experience, or do a live-desktop share of your experience with me.
- Bonus if this topic speaks to you — you’re on parental leave, changing careers, going back to the workforce (etc).
Please submit your name here! I will get back to you in 3 days of submission.
- An hour and a half, might not feel like enough time to make a contribution, but that’s also the point — understanding what people can comprehend and do in a short period of time is the first task.
- All findings will be anonymized, and used to inform next-step planning.
- This is a volunteer role, but I have a nice Firefox notebook to send volunteers afterwards ❤
- Yes! Doing this with non-technical contributors (like writers) would also be an important research topic. We’ll see how this one goes first!
“Inclusivity Bug” term borrowed from Anita Sarma and GenderMag
