What are the key points in building an active community from scratch?
The existence of a community that provides feedback is important for software development.
Orbit Blog — A tactical guide to kickstarting your community
https://orbit.love/blog/a-tactical-guide-to-kickstarting-your-community/
◆ Dense communication
At the time of writing the article, the Orbit development team used 'Discord ' as a communication app, but at the beginning of development, they used 'Slack ' to interact with community members.
With Slack, you can use multiple channels depending on the content of the conversation. However, Woods points out that 'density is important in the early stages of community building.' In addition, Orbit had only three initial development members, so it was required to focus less attention.
Therefore, the development team created two channels, '# general' for general conversation and '# feedback' for bug reports and feature requests. We concentrated the activities of the community in two places and succeeded in paying close attention to the activities of the community even with three people.
◆ Build products and communities at the same time
According to Woods, community members in the early days of Orbit development posted a lot of feedback to make Orbit better. The development team sought to respond to those feedbacks during the day. As a result, Orbit's quality has improved rapidly.
Woods said, 'The quick response has helped build a relationship of trust between the community and the development team. The quick response also activates the community, and the active community removes barriers to entry for new community members. A cycle has occurred, 'he said of the importance of prompt response.
Through this virtuous cycle, Orbit succeeded in rapidly increasing community members in the latter half of 2020. 'Community opinions not only influence our products, but also trigger the building of an active community,' Woods said.
◆ Promote dialogue between community members
As the development of Orbit progresses, community members will be able to send information such as 'How to use Orbit using external services' to Mr. Woods. However, this information was often sent as a direct message to Mr. Woods. Woods saw a need for a way to share the deliverables of community members with the community.
'Supper party organizers provide participants with conversation themes to liven up the party, and in the early stages of the community, organizers need to help the conversation go on,' Woods said. It states.
◆ Providing a sense of psychological security
According to Woods, prosperous communities tend to have more 'conversations not directly related to the product' as described above. However, Woods points out that in order to participate in such conversations, the anxieties of community members need to be removed.
Mr. Woods holds an event to introduce his favorite sweets while holding a video conference to provide an opportunity for community members to show friendship with each other. The event, dubbed 'Open Snack,' attracted 12 participants.
In addition, sharing the fun events at the event on Slack created a friendly atmosphere for community members.
◆ Make a habit
The Orbit development team reported on development progress every Friday on the '#general' channel. The practice provided an opportunity to share development momentum with the community and thank those involved in improving Orbit.
Woods also created a custom Orbit-branded emoji and distributed it to community members. 'Distribution of custom emoji sounds ridiculous, but I think a kind of common language like custom emoji is a powerful way to give community members a sense of belonging,' Woods said. I will.
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