2010/4/22 Andreas Raab andreas.raab@gmx.de:
On 4/22/2010 8:21 AM, Ian Trudel wrote:
Hi all,
I am all about improving the visual appearance of Squeak. I would perhaps consider prioritizing a consistent and coherent user interface instead. There are still some needs in this area.
An idea of mine may spark some interest, as far as look-and-feel is concerned. Our community could contact DeviantArt and ask if they would be helping us to get contributions for a complete UI from their community. It could be a simple text "Squeak needs your help!" on their main page and we could set up a page with our requirements.
I like the idea. Does anyone have connections into that community? A cold-call probably won't get you very far but if someone who is established in this (or a similar) community would pose the idea it might get more responses. I would definitely support it.
Cheers, - Andreas
Cold calls are indeed difficult for most people, that is, non salesmen. There are nonetheless ways to go about it and making more bearable for the rest of us. Let me bring up few suggestions...
Our requirements should be defined before establishing contact with communities that we do not have an existing relationship with. It will support our demand for help as well as making it more tangible and clear. Additionally, since it will give them an idea of the workload, it will sort out people who are serious about helping from those who are not. We could come up with soft requirements if going through a complete requirements is too tedious.
John McIntosh inspires me with his open letter. I think we could use a similar technique to drag attention and make people aware we do need help developing graphic resources. He also sent the letter to Steve Jobs and got a response; and that, my friends, is a cold call. Unless they're both best buddies of course.
Then, we could do some PR once we have a soft requirements sheet. What's better than having the requirements + links to download Squeak? People have the software in hands to try out, they might consider helping us. How about we contact journalists and bloggers?
Shall we show the world how much passion and enthusiasm there is in our community? Yes!
Ian.