Categories: Data Grow Mozilla

What Motivates a Million?

This post is a follow up to “Getting to know 1,000,000 Mozillians” where we shared that a small group was beginning to shape a research project intended to help us better understand:

  • How potential contributors find us,
  • What they believe their involvement with Mozilla might include and,
  • What Mozilla staff believes their role is in volunteer contributor interactions.

Since then, the team attended the Community Builders work week in San Francisco where we shared our thinking and collected feedback on, and interest in, this project.  Yesterday, the smaller group re-connected to frame both our research methodology and timeline. Here’s how it stands today:

Research methodology proposal:

  • Capture potential interview subjects via the “Get Involved Page” then:
    • Conduct remote, semi-structured interviews AND/OR
    • Provide a chat interview/survey option.
  • Larger survey of prospective contributors that connect with the “Get Involved” page over a two-week period.
  • Potential interviews with people new to contributing to other causes to understand their selection process and commitment.

Research timeline: 

  • Dec 11-13: Community Builders work week
  • Dec 16: Plan confirmation and additions
  • Jan 13-24: Survey and discussion guide prep
    • Present on Grow Mozilla call
  • Jan 27-Feb 10: Data collection
  • Feb 10-23: Data analysis
  • Feb 24-28: Presentation of findings
  • March: Phase 2 preparations

Our plan is to present the full project to the Community Builders group during the first or second Grow Mozilla call in 2014. The core working group is currently Larissa Shapiro, Emily Goligoski, Gemma Petrie, and Mardi Douglass but we know there is greater interest (we have the names of everyone who’s contacted us to date and will invite you personally to the Grow Mozilla call). We’d like to encourage anyone else who might be interested in this or any other project to attend bi-monthly Grow Mozilla calls.

This project’s wiki page is here: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Contribute/Working_Groups#Research for reference.