Collaborative Product Development in
Free and Open Source projects

Amanda Lam
2013.10.19

Who is Amanda Lam?

BEng Computer Systems Engineering, University of Warwick, UK

MSc Programme and Project Management, University of Warwick, UK (expected 2014)

Assistant Product Manager, Mobile & New Devices, jobsDB.com

Founding Member of the Hong Kong MeeGo Network

Executive Committee Member and Podcaster of the Hong Kong PDA User Group (HKPUG)

Blogger and gadget product reviewer

Volunteered in unofficial Traditional Chinese localisation projects of the Maemo 4 & 5 platforms
back in 2009

Developed Maemo 5 apps for Nokia N900 with Python language and Hildon/Gtk+ frameworks, such as eSpeak GUI Client and Stroke Order Chinese Input Method

Recipient of the Nokia N950 developer device via MeeGo Community Device Program and developed various MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan apps for Nokia N9

Releasing product on time with good qualityWhat makes a great (F/OSS) product?

Great (F/OSS) ProductQuality codingComprehensive Testing & QAThorough Research& AnalysisProper UX Research & User TestingEasy-to-readDocumentationIntuitive UI DesignGreat localisation, Effective Marketing &Targeted PromotionVision, Spirit, Belief

Portfolio Manager / Programme Manager / Project ManagerWho makes a great (F/OSS) product?

Great (F/OSS) ProductSystem Analyst &
Software DevelopersQuality Assurance
Manager & TestersProduct Manager,
Business Analyst &Data AnalystUX Researcher &Interaction DesignerKnowledge Manager,
Technical Writer,Training ManagerArt Director &Visual DesignerLaunch Manager & Product Marketing ManagerTop Management,Human Resources

Portfolio / Programme / Project ManagementHow to make a great (F/OSS) product?

Great (F/OSS) ProductTechnical Capability &Skills DevelopmentQuality ManagementProduct ManagementProgramme &Project ManagementKnowledgeManagementCreative ManagementStakeholder Management &Launch ManagementOrganisationalCulture Alignment

Product Management

Key roles: Product Manager, Business Analyst, Data Analyst

Identify problems to solve, market gap to fill, or even the Blue Ocean to create!

Perform thorough research and analysis on status quo in the market: lots of market data would be required!

Work out Benefits / Effort Matrix and prioritise product initiatives to a Product Roadmap

Create and prepare product requirements for individual products

Close monitoring the launched products and perform the above cycle again

Image courtesy: Wikipedia, www.abilitysuccessgrowth.com, business-docs.co.uk

Michael Porters five forces

PESTLE Analysis

Proper UX Research & User Testing

Key roles: UX Researcher, Interaction Designer

Research and analyse user behaviour, with the aid of tracking data, observation, or even specialised hardware (e.g. eye-tracking devices)

Identify usability issues of existing products, or core user needs of future products

Design wireframes or interactive prototypes

Conduct unbiased user testing with the wireframes or prototypes

Review user testing findings and fine-tune interaction design

Image courtesy: Drupal UX team (www.drupal.org), uxmag.com, Tobii

Creative Management

Key roles: Art Director, Visual Designer

Define brand guidelines, visual language and art direction that govern the look and feel of all products

Manage the digital asset repository

Create visual design and artworks for products, based on the Interaction Design received

Manage creative people for manageable deliverable while not limiting their creativity.

Image courtesy: design.ubuntu.com, design.canonical.com

Knowledge Management

Key roles: Knowledge Manager, Technical Writer, Training Manager

Prepare documentation of product requirements and technical details

Create and maintain the knowledge repositories

Work out the strategies for better knowledge sharing

Provide training to key stakeholders

Image courtesy: GNOME Documentation Hackfest 2012 Brno, Czech Republic (lleksah.wordpress.com), doc.opensuse.org

Technical Capability & Skills Development

Key roles: System Analyst, Software Developers

Perform feasibility studies, negotiate with Product Manager and convert business requirements into technical requirements

Develop solutions in neat and scalable ways

Transfer and develop skill sets of individualsExplicit knowledge (e.g. coding guidelines and techniques)

Tacit knowledge (e.g. working style, communication skills etc.)

Image courtesy: hacks.mozilla.org, AngelHack (www.startupshk.com)

Quality Management

Key roles: Quality Assurance Manager, Testers

Define acceptance standards, testing scope and comprehensive test plans

Maintain the testing environment and automated test tools

Manage and evolve the issue reporting systems

Arrange necessary resources for testing, such as time, manpower and devices

Provide advices on resolving the issues

Image courtesy: www.softwaretestpro.com, Mozilla

Stakeholder Management & Launch Management

Key roles: Product Marketing Manager, Launch Manager

Identify key stakeholders (RACI matrix) and perform stakeholder analysis

Effectively communicate key product messages to key stakeholders prior to launch

Change management: look after stakeholders who will be negatively impacted

Prepare product marketing guidelines for marketing teams to highlight key features and benefits

Consult key stakeholders, plan and advise the best timing for product launches

Work with Training Manager to arrange product training

Image courtesy: WMG, University of Warwick;
ww.real-user-monitoring.com

Organisation Culture Alignment

Key roles: Top Management, Human Resources

Establish core values such as vision, spirit and beliefs

Understand the cultural background and differences of the project team members

With the established core values, cultivate a unique organisation culture that sits on top of everyone's national culture, and get team members' buy-in

Organise team building activities to make sure such organisation culture is ingrained in team members' mind

The vision for Ubuntu is part social and part economic: free software, available to everybody on the same terms, and funded through a portfolio of services provided by Canonical.

Image courtesy: Ubuntu.com

Portfolio / Programme / Project Management

Key roles: Portfolio Manager, Programme Manager, Project Manager

Collect product initiatives from Product Managers, and categorise them into programme or portfolios.

Identify and mitigate cost, time and resource risks at portfolio, programme and project levels; and find out the critical paths

Work out interdependency of projects or programme.

Allocate necessary resources and resolve resource conflicts for programme and project teams.

Create roadmaps and milestones at portfolio and programme level, and project plan at project level

Image courtesy: Jerry Bucknoff, PM Best Practices, sourceforge.net/projects/openproj

What make F/OSS projects more difficult to manage?

Often involve global virtual teamsCultural differences

Uneven distribution of skill sets (especially in smaller projects)Too developer-dominated, too technical-focused

Gender bias and stereotypesMale-dominated

Female-unfriendly environment

Knowledge-sharing challengesLack of informal socialisation

weak team climate

lack of trust and respect

uneven absorptive capacity

lack of knowledge customisation

etc.

Image courtesy: www.excellenceinleadership.co.uk, www.culpwrit.com

Cultural differences: Geert Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

References:
www.geerthofstede.nl, geert-hofstede.com

Eastern cultures is vastly different than Western cultures.

Even in Asia, different countries would have different cultural characteristics.

Organisational culture and National culture

Image courtesy:
WMG, University of Warwick

No matter what national culture and professional culture the team members belong to, if a common organisational culture is cultivated, team members would share common values, assumptions, artifacts and norms.

Developer-dominated technical-focused geeky cultures

Image courtesy:
www.opendocs.org

Developers also need to understand what REAL USERS want!

Be OPEN MINDED!
Always welcome non-developers and newcomers to contribute!

RESPECT the unique skill sets of each other.

Speak HUMAN, EARTH language!

Allow newcomers to ask silly questions and guide them through wholeheartedly.

Gender bias in F/OSS projects

Image courtesy:
Women in Free/Open Source Software Development, Hanna M. Wallach, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011.
http://people.cs.umass.edu/~wallach/talks/2011-04-05_JHU.pdf

Huh, what happened? ~_~Are F/OSS ideas too philosophical?

Gender stereotypes: Women must be innocent? Women must be non-technical users?

Women's contributions not being recognised and they feel being excluded?

Guys, RETHINK!

Knowledge sharing and conversion challenges in virtual teams

Image courtesy:
HICKS, R.C., DATTERO, R. and GALUP, S.D., 2007. A metaphor for knowledge management: explicit islands in a tacit sea. Journal of Knowledge Management, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 5 ABI/INFORM Global. ISSN 13673270. DOI http://dx.doi.org.eproxy.vtclib9.vtc.edu.hk:2048/10.1108/13673270710728204.NONAKA, I., TOYAMA, R. and KONNO, N., 2000. SECI, ba and leadership: A unified model of dynamic knowledge creation. Long Range Planning, Feb 2000, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 5-34 ABI/INFORM Global. ISSN 00246301.

For virtual teams, explicit knowledge are easier to acquire and share than tacit knowledge

hence knowledge conversion processes (digestions) are hindered

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