User:SGrabarczuk (WMF)/sandbox

The current default skin is 12 years old. Let's refresh it! Since 2010, technology has evolved. People interact with desktop differently than they used to.

There have been many changes to the interface. Most of these were not coordinated. We are making the interface coherent.

The communities have built modifications. We make the best of these part of our interface.

We are making Wikimedia wikis more welcoming and easier for readers. We are maintaining the utility for editors.

We would like to see our improvements the default on all wikis in 2022.

We collaborate with communities.

The Web team, Wikimedia Foundation

Currently, the interface…
…doesn't match the expectations. …is cluttered and not intuitive. …doesn't highlight the community side. …isn't consistent with the mobile version.


 * 1) The desktop interface does not match the expectations created by the modern web platforms. It feels disorienting and disconnected. Navigation and interface links are organized haphazardly.
 * 2) There is clutter that distracts users from focusing on what they came for. It is challenging for readers to focus on the content. It is not possible for them to intuitively switch languages, search for content, or adjust reading settings. New editors are unable to use their intuition to set up their account, open the editor, or learn how to use non-article pages for moderation purposes.
 * 3) A very small percentage of readers understand how Wikimedia wikis function. Many readers are not aware that the content they are reading is written by volunteers and updated frequently, or that they can potentially contribute as well.
 * 4) The large difference in experiences among our desktop interface, apps, and the mobile web, makes it difficult for readers to connect our products. There is a lack of unity in the concept of Wikimedia sites.

Principles
We do not touch the content. We do not remove any functionality. We are inspired by the existing gadgets. We do not make major changes in single steps. We do not touch skins other than Vector.


 * 1) We are working on the interface only. No work will be done in terms of styling templates, the structure of page contents, map support, or cross-wiki templates.
 * 2) Elements of the interface might move around, but all navigational items and other functionality currently available by default will remain.
 * 3) We have analysed many wikis and have noticed many useful gadgets. Some of them definitely deserve to be surfaced and be a part of default experience.
 * 4) Though our changes are easily noticeable, we are taking an evolutionary approach and want the site to continue feeling familiar to readers and editors. Each feature is discussed, developed, and deployed separately.
 * 5) Skins other than Vector are out of the scope of our adjustments. We have frozen Vector to Legacy Vector, and begun deploying our features as parts of the new default Vector.

Deployment plan and timeline
Test our features individually, share feedback, and join our early adopter wikis!


 * 1) Each feature is built and implemented separately, over time. Features which have been created are still being adjusted and improved. Our decisions are based on community feedback, user testing, and extracted API data.
 * 2) We test our improvements in collaboration with a diverse set of volunteering early adopter wikis. Both Wikipedias and sister projects are among them.
 * 3) Both prior to development and after deployment, we collect data (via A/B testing, prototype feedback rounds, etc.). In the case of significantly negative results, we will roll back our changes.
 * 4) We increase the set of early adopter wikis gradually, until our improvements are default on all wikis in 2022.