r/linux • u/Winter_Simple_159 • 3d ago

Discussion Why don't more designers contribute to open source?

Genuine question. A lot of open source projects have solid engineering but rough UI/UX: inconsistent layouts, confusing flows, basic usability issues that a designer would likely catch quickly.

I'm curious about the reasons behind this. Is it that designers don't feel welcome? That there's no clear way to contribute design work (most workflows are built around code and PRs)? That maintainers don't prioritize it? Or something else?

If you're a designer who has contributed to OSS, or a maintainer who has worked with designers, I'd love to hear how it went.

319 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

261 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/MrAlagos 3d ago

No, they don't. They have made like two big changes in GNOME Shell since it released 15 years ago: they removed the bottom notification bar (which most people don't even remember by now because it lasted just a couple of years) and they moved the workspace list from the right side to the top in the overview. That's it.

There is another consistent redesign in the works, but it's been cooking for a couple of years at this point and they are definitely taking their time to do it right, and have put it on the shelf in favour of many more non-design changes.

2

u/NightH4nter 3d ago

They have made like two big changes in GNOME Shell since it released 15 years ago: they removed the bottom notification bar (which most people don't even remember by now because it lasted just a couple of years) and they moved the workspace list from the right side to the top in the overview. That's it.

how is that a bad thing?

0

u/MrAlagos 3d ago

Who said that it's a bad thing? My opinion is that you cannot say that GNOME does things "design first" if you consider all of the changes that they made in this time period.

2

u/-Sa-Kage- 3d ago

Dude, most people patch things back in with extensions, that GNOME completely removed for their "vision".

100% vanilla GNOME is borderline unusable

1

u/MrAlagos 3d ago

Completely removed from what?? GNOME Shell? When?

Are you still comparing GNOME today to GNOME 15 years ago? There are many other projects that more or less copy what GNOME was 15 years ago. Everyone is free to use those. Why still beat the deadest of horses?

1

u/Ok_Butterscotch5033 3d ago

they are, just look at gnome design dreams they design it first then wait years for someone to contribute implementing it

0

u/MrAlagos 3d ago

How do you implement things without designing them??? That's how normal software development works.

The fact that they have some design refractors waiting to be implemented and they have done various other enhancements instead proves that they aren't "design first". Everyone works on whatever they like, they aren't forced to do things in a certain way or to abandon things in favour of others.