[wp-hackers] Making it better

[Mike Little]

On 4/22/05, Matt Mullenweg <m at mullenweg.com> wrote:
> David Chait wrote:
> > What IS the 'end goal'?  Is there a roadmap for where WP is going in the
> > future, how to make the product/experience better for Joe User?
> 
> http://wordpress.org/
> 
> "WordPress is a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform
> with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability."
> 
> I think we have a lot we could improve in at least two of those three
> categories.
> 
> "More simply, WordPress is what you use when you want to work with your
> blogging software, not fight it."
> 
> People are still fighting, we need to make it as easy as technically
> possible.
> 
> http://wordpress.org/about/
> 
> "We hope by focusing on user experience and web standards we can create
> a tool different from anything else out there."
> 
> Again, the focus on the user experience. We all love software that is a
> joy to use and elegant to work with. As far as WordPress can become that
> software to more people, I think we're doing a good job.
> 

Great Matt! 
I too think that usability in all its guises is key to making
WordPress the blogging/CMS application for the masses.
I think the usability report from Gabriel White is probably a good
starting point. Not that we should implement everything slavishly, but
there are some very good points which I think are worth considering.

I know there is a list of new features/major changes for 1.6 on the
codex but I think that post 1.5.1 we need a detailed road map.

Much more than a bullet list, though its a good starting point.
Something with specific details fleshed out. Not implementation/coding
details, but how things will work, what things there will be to click,
what will happen when they are clicked. Use cases, however informal,
practical, functional design.

I know I always harp on about it, but we still need the design
decisions to be documented somewhere other than in real time on IRC!

Mike
-- 
Mike Little
http://zed1.com/journalized/