New download pages, brainstorming

[Máirín Duffy]

On 08/30/2013 03:23 AM, Robert Mayr wrote:
>>> But users and contributors necessarily have different goals and thus
>>> different tasks, so I'm not sure how/why one site should (or could)
>>> serve both?
> 
> I think contributors are also end-users, we shouldn't separate them
> strictly. As user and contributor I'd like to have a better main site,
> from where it's possible to access, if I like to, specific sites for
> contributors (wiki, fedorahosted, etc). As Matthew said, I also have a
> long list in my bookmarks, just because the sites are not linked
> together the right way.
> For sure these links should be more hidden, the main links and tabs
> should be and remain for end users and new users.

I just wanted to point out we need to be careful here - absolutely
contributors are users, but they really don't need as much hand-holding
as someone who is new. If you start blending users and contributors in
your head when planning out the design, you tend to drift towards the
more knowledgable and that can make for a site that is kind of
off-putting to new folks because it assumes a level of knowledge they
just don't have yet.

I think it's better to assume less knowledge, guide people through
things, and for folks who are more knowledgable, give them a separate,
streamlined place to get what they want to do done. So for example, we
could have a contributors site that has a more full set of download
links on the same page rather than the onion-layer approach we have now.
(And the onion-layer approach I think is the right one for new folks)

This is why I think making a design that is good for both is kind of
impossible. The onion layer approach (for beginners) vs. the single page
of links (for experts) are at complete odds with each other - you cannot
design the same site both ways at the same time.

~m