Have you seen Máirín Duffy’s post on the Fedora Design team’s next-generation design for the Fedora Project website? It’s a brilliant design based around the idea of a “sub hub.” These screens help customize the website to fit different sub-communities, initiatives, teams, or projects.
Máirín published this post with the design mockups a few weeks ago and they’re still open for feedback. I love the concept and the mockups, and the way it brings the site a little closer to the functionality people expect for interaction in other communities. The sub hub design offers a sites not just for promotion, but also for bringing people together for communication and information.
I’m sure the Design team will move forward at some point to bring these concepts into reality. But before they do, I know they’d appreciate hearing from community members. Even just offering feedback that “This is awesome!” is useful, so the designers know there is a solid mass of people who like the work. You can visit the site here to offer your constructive comments.
If you don’t, that’s OK too! Just be polite and specific in your comments. Rather than saying how to fix something, talk about why something doesn’t work for you. Designers are good at figuring out how to solve usability problems once they know more about the effects on the user. Those of us without a lot of design and usability experience often suggest solutions that seem like they’d work, but really might cause more problems for other users. So it’s best to concentrate on symptoms.
So if you haven’t checked out the post and offered some constructive feedback, please feel free. I’m really looking forward to seeing how things move forward with these designs and hope you’re excited about them too.
If you’re excited enough about the work to get involved and help, the Design team would love your contributions. There’s also more information about how to contribute here. There are several repositories set up where you can test existing ideas, change them with your own, and contribute changes back to the team using a pull request. Getting involved is easy, and the Design team is famous for their friendliness and willingness to help people get started contributing. So don’t be afraid to jump in!