Why are we doing this?

1. Explore communication on Wikipedia Communication is the backbone of collaboration on Wikipedia. The iOS team is looking forward to bringing a more fully featured set of communication and talk page tools into the app. Currently, there is a mix of native and non-native iOS talk page experiences. During this project we are looking to update the existing native user talk page and add native article talk pages so that contributors, across experience levels, can intuitively and confidently communicate with one another on iOS and across platforms.
2. Review pre-existing work and planned work on talk pages How might we build off of work from the editing, desktop improvements and Android teams? What forms of mobile talk pages already exist and what is planned for the near future? How can we ensure that whatever we build includes pathways for users who are on any platform to communicate and collaborate together?

Design themes

Timeliness & spatial awareness: Where and when is the conversation happening? How might we design features that help Wikipedians (new or old) to have a better intuitive sense of the activeness/freshness of a conversation? How might design help to facilitate better, civil and more timely conversations across Wikipedia?
Modernisation, not complete transformation: Improve, don't replace. Talk pages belong to the Wikipedians who use them. How might we honor and respect the years of community work that have gone into the evolution of Talk pages, while improving their utility and civility for all?

Job to be done

Contributors, across experience levels, can intuitively and confidently communicate with one another using Wikipedia talk pages on iOS and across platforms

User story

As an Wikipedian, I want to have a suite of communication tools available to me on my phone, so that I can fully participate with my fellow contributors, no matter where I am or what device I have access to.

List of deliverables

• Communication on iOS: Talk Pages deck has a general overview of communication on talk pages
  • Questions
  • Research & literature review
  • Talk page anatomy on different platforms
  • Review of existing designs
  • Survey of future designs
  • Review of existing talk page elements created by the communities
  • Proposed components toolkit
• Research on Talk Pages deck includes
  • Summary of key points from a variety of research papers
  • General overview of talk pages
  • Purpose of talk pages
  • Communication and collaboration on talk pages
  • Talk pages and newcomers
  • Evolution of the talk pages
  • Talk pages on different language wikis (differences & similarities)
• Distilled talk page research miro board includes
  • Introduction to Talk Pages
  • Social roles in Wikipedia
  • Roles on Talk Pages
  • General information about talk pages
  • Talk page content
  • Suggestions to improve talk pages
• Talk page component prioritisation
• Talk pages: journey maps iOS
  • User maps (moderator, expert, wordsmith, policy guide, architect, reader)
  • Personas
  • Talk models

Related work

iOS

• Talk pages audit - iOS

Android

• Talk page usability testing
• Android Communication FY 21/22

Web

• OWC X Interface Inventory
• OWC Design brief
• Mission -> Talk
• OWC X Topic Subscriptions
• Talk page consultation
• People are talking
• Talk pages project page
• Talk Pages Project/Usability/Deep Dive

Design research

• Communications/Mentorship Phase 1 Research Report (August 2021)
• Mentorship/Communications