Hey folks,
In this edition of the contributor spotlight, you’ll hear from Jefferson Scher, one of our top contributors in our community forums. Jefferson possesses extensive knowledge about Firefox, having contributed since version 0.8. Over the years, he has built numerous tools that help both users and fellow contributors. His dedication and expertise have been invaluable to the community, providing support and creating resources that enhance the Firefox experience. Stay tuned to learn more about Jefferson’s journey, his contributions, and the advice he has for new contributors.
… just because I think I know a lot about the product, users constantly surprise me with new uses and requirements that never occurred to me.
Q: Please tell us about yourself!
I’m a native Californian and have lived nearly all of my life in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am naturally nerdy and enjoy taking deep dives into topics. It’s great when this intersects with being able to help others in a meaningful way, and gratitude is always appreciated.
Q: You’ve been involved with Mozilla for a long time. Can you tell us more about how you got started?
I originally started posting replies on technology forums for Microsoft Office, and gradually expanded to other programs. I never used Mozilla Suite, but I learned about Firefox around version 0.8, and first posted on mozillaZine toward the end of 2004. Initially I was more focused on web development topics, but gradually I grew more confident about answering browser questions as I came to know the product better. I can’t recall when I started posting on the official forum (it was a few years later).
Q: Your job as an intellectual property attorney doesn’t seem to correlate much with your volunteering activity in SUMO. Can you tell us if you see any benefits of contributing to Mozilla in your career?
Reading and researching support questions provides a lot of insights that you can’t get by listening to podcasts or reading tech news. It helps me understand the products and features a wide range of users find useful (or annoying), and how they react to different company service cultures. Some users also make assertions about how the law works in other countries, which is interesting because we do serve clients around the world and it’s useful to understand their expectations.
Q: You’re one of the contributors with the highest solution rate in the forum. What do you think is the most important thing to keep in mind when helping users in the forum? Are there any best practices you can share?
It’s difficult to pick one most important thing. Certainly staying on the case (following up) is important because it would be overwhelming to provide a five page flow chart of “if this, then that” all in one reply. I think it’s useful to express concern, and I have to maintain humility: just because I think I know a lot about the product, users constantly surprise me with new uses and requirements that never occurred to me.
Q: You’ve built many tools to help users (like the tool for reading compressed files) and fellow contributors (like the SUMO advanced search), and even developed extensions over the years. Can you tell us how you decide to start a new project or invent a new tool?
Almost all of these have arisen from problems that I first spotted on the forum that were difficult or impossible to solve with built-in features or other add-ons. Perhaps you could trace it back to a January 2011 thread in Eileen’s Lounge about a Greasemonkey user script to block unwanted sites in Google results. That led me to create the “Google Hit Hider” script. I find it fun to try to solve puzzles like that one, and am always thinking about the next one (if time and skills permit).
Q: Many people contribute to Mozilla because they love Firefox and resonate with Mozilla’s mission. What about you? Is Mozilla’s mission an important driving force for you to contribute, and can you tell us what you like the most about Firefox?
Over the years, Mozilla has worked hard to advance many projects related to the open web, from net neutrality to a range of privacy protections. Since I’m not an activist, the way I can contribute to the mission is to help users love Firefox. I have used Firefox almost exclusively for the past 20 years, and when I try to use other browsers, I can’t find many features that I look for. I’m sure users switching to Firefox from other browsers feel the same way, and we need to help them get on board smoothly with a good support experience.
Q: You’ve been contributing for more than a decade and have seen many changes. Can you share what excites you the most about the current state of our product?
Like many long-time users, I have mixed feelings. I know it’s not possible to be all things to all people. It’s great that performance ratchets up over time, since no one likes watching pages load and render. It’s interesting hearing from users of other browsers who are looking for improved privacy or a better add-on experience, since they often have completely different priorities. But streamlining the interface can lead to extra steps in the workflow for people used to doing things “the old way.” The Connect site has been quite positive for collecting user sentiment and suggestions and allowing developers to be more in touch with our concerns.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you’re facing as a SUMO contributor at the moment? What do you think is the most critical issue we need to address?
We often would benefit from a screenshot or screen video of a problem, but many users find it difficult to provide this in a manner that is convenient for them. It would be handy if the screenshot feature had the option to capture the toolbar area, and video, with a simple way to share.
Q: What advice would you give to someone new who wants to contribute to the forum?
Look for topics that interest you. Maybe it’s threads about privacy features, or online games, or graphics, or video. Get a sense of the kinds of problems users have and think about the kind of help you would want if you were in the same situation. Then think about resources, like Knowledge Base articles on the topic, or solved threads that cover the same problem. You will have to find your own style for how to write the response, but as long as you have a sympathetic tone, you’ll probably do fine.
I hope you enjoy your read. If you’re interested in joining our product community just like Jefferson, please go to our contribute page to learn more. You can also reach out to us through the following channels:
SUMO contributor discussions: https://support.mozilla.org/forums/
SUMO Matrix room: https://matrix.to/#/#sumo:mozilla.org
Twitter/X: https://x.com/SUMO_Mozilla