After creating the third resource in our user testing series about the synthesis process and running a small workshop session to test the content with real OSS tool teams, our talk about research synthesis was accepted by the Open Source Design devroom at FOSDEM 2022.

During the 20-minute talk, we took our audience through the process of creating resources for the USABLE.tools project and why we focussed on creating the first three resources around the user testing process before delving into the synthesis resource in detail.

We explained why synthesis is an important phase not only for designers in OSS tool building, but the wider OSS tool team. As we discovered through many of our initial interviews with OSS tool team members, it can be difficult to understand the value design brings to an OSS tool, as well as where design improvements and insights come from. Along with these challenges, an additional challenge of developers in OSS is finding time to participate in user testing. However, a good synthesis session condenses this information. This also gives the designers and developers in OSS tool teams time to collaborate and understand each others’ perspectives and roles in making the best OSS tool possible.

You can view the video of the session that is self-hosted by FOSDEM here.

Thank you to the team at Open Source Design for inviting us to present at FOSDEM 2022!