FAQ:User Interaction Consultation

Reading Mission
Our mission is to encourage the growth, development and distribution of knowledge.

Solution set
“Create new experiences for readers based on interaction with content and other users.”
 * This is just one of several tactics we are exploring.
 * We are aware that interactions often create moderation needs and are committed to working with volunteers to ensure that, from the beginning, we design solutions that address workload and quality concerns. A starting point for us is the document that Risker put together on moderation needs.

Rationale
In a community based movement, our users are our top priority, whether they are editors who create Wikipedia or readers. We are asking for your ideas, because understanding the needs and behaviors of our different users is a must in order to deliver better experiences.

One way to help readers learn is to enable them to interact with content and with each other on Wikipedia. We believe that more engaged readers will learn more and that more of them will ultimately become editors.

As readers and volunteers, we would like to hear your suggestions for engagement mechanisms and will be posting some of our own to hear your input!

Examples:
This is a broad set of ideas that might fit within the solution set for increasing reader engagement. These suggestions are not a roadmap. It is simply a subset of interaction types.

General: Wikipedia-specific:
 * upvote / like
 * share
 * follow story or topic
 * rate / review
 * highlight
 * curate / organize into lists
 * comment
 * ask questions
 * thank a contributor
 * follow a contributor
 * double-check references
 * wikidata submissions
 * identify image that best exemplifies article (for hovercards and other previews)
 * identify image centering (for cropping on other devices)

FAQ
Why are you asking me?

Wikipedia belongs to everyone, but particularly the people who have spent countless hours writing it. Rather than simply build a new feature and ask if you like it, we are experimenting with bringing our stakeholders into the product development process earlier and earlier. Here is one recent example. In this case, we are trying to start with the problem and co-create solutions.

What if I want to discuss this consultation or the assumptions made here?

Let us know here

Are you aware of previous similar exploration X,Y,or Z in this area?

We are definitely aware of several past and present projects that overlap with this solution set (such as the article feedback tool and Wikicomment), but might be unaware of others. If you think something is relevant, please point us to it!

'''I tried to add my idea/comment, but it didn’t work. Help!'''

Email us here: [mailto:reading@wikimedia.org?Subject=Trouble%20with%20submission&body=Attempted%20action%3A%0A%0ATrouble%3A%0A%0AMobile%20or%20desktop%3F%3A%0A reading@wikimedia.org]