After some discussion, I decided to simplify and re-focus this task. Originally, I wanted to target two types of people with the same task: existing KDE users searching for quick tips and people searching for a tutorial online to solve a specific problem. For group number two, the tutorials would be used to offer KDE software as a solution to their problem and, in turn, be used to convince them to give KDE a try. Those two types of people cannot benefit from the same type of content, even if the content might overlap somewhat (e.g: both kinds of content would teach something). The first group is already familiar with KDE software and wants something straight to the point, as Paul Brown pointed out in the Promo group. In contrast, the second group of people have zero knowledge about KDE and need to, first, be persuaded to download KDE software and, second, need detailed instructions that do not fit into the concept of a tip. Trying to mix the two wouldn't work well because each public has different needs. This task will focus solely on existing users now. I might create another task in the future for the other target public, but that idea will be put on hold for now.
The problem:
KDE software usually has a lot of features not many people do not know about, and users avoid reading long and boring technical documentation to learn how to use a program.
There’s also a new influx of new inexperienced users due to the release of the Steam Deck, and those users don’t have many resources to learn how to use Plasma and other KDE software.
Promo tried making videos with tips but those usually take a long time to be made, so not many were produced.
With that in mind, creating written tips can be a nice way of increasing the amount of content we can produce, as they don't require video editing skills and can be made by anyone in the community. This should also help drive engagement on social media.
Goals:
By creating relevant content, we want to:
- Increase awareness: Make new users aware of the features and advantages KDE software offers
- Drive engagement on social media with content that can be quickly read and interacted with
Target public:
Users of KDE software that are still learning how to use it. This includes Steam Deck users.
Idea:
We'll be producing short tips that teach users useful or hidden features of KDE software they most likely already use. To do that, we'll focus on two types of content:
- Written tips in KDE Wiki
- Short social media posts accompanied by some text giving the tip and an image.
For tips in the KDE Wiki, we need to follow some guidelines to make more effective content to our target audience:
- Be short and go straight to the point: people’s attention span is short. They won’t read long articles
- Use friendly and informal language: this will help communicate with people without sounding technical and boring
- Be heavily visual by using screenshots, GIFs, or short videos
- Focus on common tasks users might not know how to do within KDE apps
- Showcase new, useful, or hidden features the competition doesn’t have (MS/Apple)
- Link to other tips
- Be shared in relevant places, like KDE/Steam Deck’s Reddit pages and other KDE social media
Discussion:
Who’s going to write the articles?
This already has an answer: Me and anyone else that feels like writing a tutorial in the promo group.
With what frequency should they be posted?
In the short term, I want to target one post per week. We should test this to find the ideal frequency.
Where are they going to be posted?
Tips on KDE Wiki should be posted here: https://userbase.kde.org/Tips
If the tip we're posting is too small (e.g: A keyboard shortcut to access some functionality), we can make those posts on social media websites themselves without needing to add them to the Wiki. As described earlier, those could simply include a small text giving the tip and an image.
There's no need for a specialized website for this task.
TODO:
- Make Tips page on KDE Wiki
- Select a day of the week to post
Always gather ideas of things we can post about [Permanent goal]