Wikimedia Usability Initiative

Multimedia:Meeting in Paris/Notes/Upload

< Multimedia:Meeting in Paris | Notes

Workflow analysis

What's the current workflow related to this topic?

  • ...
  • ...

Major issues

What are the major issues related to this topic?

  • Education about free licenses
    • the current form tries to educate about free works at the same time the user is uploading
    • => upload form is too complicated
    • too much text => people don't read => useless in the end
  • Commons is a separate project
    • and presented as such
    • The upload has to be done from Commons.
    • It's then difficult to add the file to the actual page.
  • 1 upload form for all users, whatever their experience etc.
    • Upload workflow is too complicated (branches etc.)
    • it's easy to get lost in the process
  • Small core Commons community
    • Too few admins, too little manpower to manage the incoming flow
    • Users are required to provide perfect uploads (licensing information, categories, etc.)
    • Upload form is too complicated
    • Lack of user-friendliness (messages from bots, etc.); also linked to the little manpower; community interaction
  • Repetitiveness
    • when uploading similar pictures; the upload form is not designed for multiple uploads
    • when preparing metadata beforehand and having to give all the info all over again
  • Commons is user-focused, not participant-focused
    • No prominent invitation to upload, only a link in the sidebar
    • The home page of Commons is designed for people who want to use files, not contribute them
  • Multilingualism
    • difficult communication with the uploader to guide them

Tools and workarounds

What are the existing tools or workarounds used to circumvent these issues?

Other possible solutions

What other solutions could be used to circumvent these issues? (Be bold and creative)

  • Auto-categorization (Duesentrieb)
  • ...

Solutions analysis

What are the advantages and drawbacks of these solutions? (existing or not yet)

  • Efficiency in solving the issue
  • Drawbacks
  • Feasibility
  • ...

Prioritization

What issues should we focus on?

  • ...
  • ...

Notes taken from Google Wave

Critical issues:

  • It is complicated
  • Redundant, information can come from the file itself
  • Too complicated
  • Multiple user interfaces for different use cases
  • Form is designed for single uploads
  • Commons design is driven by the assumption and fear about copyright confusion
  • Too easy to get lost in the upload process
  • Need to educate about licensing
  • 200.000 uploads per month vs. 100 active Commonists checking images
  • If you upload an image wrong, you get harrassed by a bot giving you a crash course in world wide copyright
  • Language issues are a barrier for both documentation and user-to-user assistance
  • People on local projects do not understand the utility of uploading their images to commons (and are sometimes resistant)

Proposals and recommendations:

  • Get rid of questions that do not make sense (PD questions in the "own work" section)
  • (Andrew) To fix, make uploading a properly multi-stage process. FIRST, upload the image. THEN, say whether it's your own work or not. If it's their own work, don't give them a lecture on copyright law. If it isn't, use a series of simple questions and answers to determine whether it can be uploaded, and what its appropriate license is. At each point, try to avoid overloading the user.
  • (Andrew) Use proper fields for structured data (dates, unexplained "Permission:" field, "Other versions".
  • Fix the OTRS permissions approval process, it's strange and mysterious.
  • "Quarantine" section for copyright clearance. lower barrier to upload images and let people check it.
  • (Brion:) "Red label" warnings when using images that aren't fully cleared yet
  • Combination of instant gratification + clear way to have people find and fix things after == wiki way
  • If uploading from Wikipedia have it directly send to commons when you click the "own work" check box.
  • (Ariel) This can be a problem when the photo is fair use because of the contents (eg image of a building where there is no freedom of parnorama in that country)
  • Inline upload form via add media wizard on edit page [in progress - mdale]
  • Integrate CommonSense deeper into the upload mechanism
  • Upload file *first*, extract EXIF metadata, *then* ask for more details from user
  • Copyright questions mainly for third-party sourced images, which usually come from web. URL source and any copy metadata in the file are excellent sources of info without bugging the user.
  • World-wide PD calculator that interprets the place/date info to determine PD status of an image
  • "Report copyright problem" button for one-click directing things to admin attention queue
  • Add the ability to upload multiple files from a "batch" (sharing licensing and source information if appropriate, but not descriptions and other metadata).
  • Add a new option for importing images cross-wiki rather than the fun image moving bots we use now.
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