This is an epic task to capture the FY25-26 work by Research related to Contributor Motivations. This work maps to the Contributor Experiences (WE1) Objective in the WMF Annual Plan. It builds on work that started in FY24-25 such as T391499: Develop proposal for understanding how to support moderator motivations and includes research to inform how to support editor + moderator activity and retention through the lens of contributor motivations. It may also include more shorter-term Product support where relevant. This task mainly serves to connect related projects and updates will not be common here.
Related Projects
| Timeline | Ticket | Lead | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | T395678: [Request] Informing the design of a progression system for new editors | Design Research | Guidance to motivate newcomers (WE1.1.5) |
| Q1 | T398250: Understanding newcomer onboarding experiences - mentorship, relatedness, and competence | Applied Science | Mentorship as key to core motivation of relatedness (EW) |
| Q2 | T397550: Develop a dataset for editor Q&A | Applied Science | Understanding role of mentorship on the wikis (EW) |
| Q2 | Internal doc | Applied Science | Propose KR around further research for (junior) contributor motivations (EW) |
| Q3 | T410360: [Request] Continuous research / insight-->decision lifecycles | Design Research | Observational interviews of junior contributors (WE1.9.1) |
| Q4 | T411898: Community Insights 2026 | Applied Science | High-level survey of Wikimedia communities (including motivation-related questions) (WE1.9.?) |