13:54:40 RRSAgent has joined #users1st 13:54:40 logging to https://www.w3.org/2020/10/27-users1st-irc 13:54:42 RRSAgent, make logs Public 13:54:43 Meeting: What would it mean for W3C to REALLY prioritize end users? 13:56:02 AramZS has joined #users1st 13:56:11 present+ 13:56:33 present+ 13:57:49 present+ dsinger 13:58:06 tzviya has joined #users1st 13:58:42 weiler has joined #users1st 13:58:45 present+ 13:58:56 MichaelChampion__ has joined #users1st 13:59:01 test has joined #users1st 13:59:09 Avneesh has joined #users1st 13:59:29 present+ 13:59:50 present+ 14:00:11 present+ 14:00:42 tantek has joined #users1st 14:00:57 present+ MChampion 14:00:58 Domenic has joined #users1st 14:01:27 Proposed discussion questions are in https://github.com/WebStdFuture/Users1st/blob/main/BreakoutQuestions.md 14:01:39 cwilso has joined #users1st 14:01:40 florian_irc has joined #users1st 14:01:52 igarashi has joined #users1st 14:02:04 jes_daigle has joined #users1st 14:02:21 scribenick: cwilso 14:02:29 joshco has joined #users1st 14:02:29 present+ 14:02:33 present+ Tatsuya_Igarashi 14:02:35 present+ 14:02:38 zakim, who is here? 14:02:38 Present: Alan, plh, dsinger, weiler, tzviya, Karima, Avneesh, MChampion, cwilso, Tatsuya_Igarashi, jes_daigle 14:02:41 On IRC I see joshco, jes_daigle, igarashi, florian_irc, cwilso, Domenic, tantek, Avneesh, test, MichaelChampion__, weiler, tzviya, AramZS, RRSAgent, plh, Karima, dsinger, Zakim, 14:02:41 ... Alan, jeff, NotWoods 14:02:56 astearns has joined #users1st 14:03:14 fantasai has joined #users1st 14:03:20 r12a has joined #users1st 14:03:37 https://github.com/WebStdFuture/Users1st/blob/main/BreakoutQuestions.md has the questions I'll propose ... 14:03:42 hdv has joined #users1st 14:04:09 csarven has joined #users1st 14:04:28 pl_mrcy has joined #users1st 14:04:31 mchampion: I'm currently affiliated with the OpenJS Foundation, but not representing them today; I'm retired. 14:04:32 present+ 14:04:43 caribou has joined #users1st 14:05:03 present+ 14:05:04 ... The questions I want to discuss today were inspired by Mark Nottingham. 14:05:15 present+ Hidde 14:05:37 ...In short, are there a set of users we can enumerate, and how can we make sure W3C is focused on their needs? What happens if they aren't? 14:05:40 jyasskin has joined #users1st 14:06:02 ...I hope some of you have read Mark's blog, or RFC8890 14:06:05 q+ 14:06:07 q+ 14:06:12 ...is this something we can address? 14:06:14 ack r12a 14:06:25 R12a: can you summarize the RFC? 14:06:37 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8890 14:06:38 https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8890.html 14:06:42 https://github.com/WebStdFuture/Users1st/blob/main/BreakoutQuestions.md 14:06:54 abstract: This document explains why, when a conflict cannot be avoided, the IETF considers end users as its highest priority concern. 14:07:09 gendler has joined #users1st 14:07:14 q+ 14:07:24 mchampion: summary: the Internet is for users, and not like most of us (i.e. working for big companies, actively working on big standards) 14:07:28 ivan has joined #users1st 14:07:46 ... the goal is to make users' needs the highest priority. 14:08:07 ...the part I found most interesting was at the end: handling conflicting end users' needs 14:08:38 ...it's a little disingenuous to say "we speak for users" when most of us understand a lot more of the complexity of the web than most users. 14:08:51 present+ 14:09:15 present+ 14:09:17 ack tzviya 14:09:19 ... Do we recognize there are problems when the standards don't treat end users as the highest priority? 14:09:22 https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8890#section-4.4 14:09:39 https://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/ethical-web-principles/ 14:09:57 tzviya: a lot of people at hte W3C are thinking about this: the TAG has their Ethical WEb principles. 14:10:22 https://www.w3.org/TR/html-design-principles/ 14:10:29 ... a related subject is the HTML Design principles. When we say "we know the web best", do we really? 14:11:06 ...we don't know who all our users are. This comes up when we discuss diversity too. 14:11:19 ... there are people without great connectivity, e.g. 14:11:53 q+ to point out that actually we are users (maybe not typical) 14:11:56 +1 14:12:06 ...There are a lot of users in the real world. A good question that came up yesterday in the ethics discussion was "What characteristics of the web are not a good fit for us?" and what could we do to address that? 14:12:06 +! 14:12:08 +1 14:12:42 ack weiler 14:12:54 mchampion: the last year or so of my time at Microsoft, they really started focusing on user research. I don't know if that's something the W3C could do, but it would be a good mindset. 14:13:02 +q 14:13:03 weiler: I agree we need to do this. 14:13:09 Justine_ has joined #users1st 14:13:18 present+ 14:13:27 q+ 14:13:36 ...but I want to throw out a conflict out. I hear the web advertising throw out a conflicting view of what user's needs are. 14:13:55 ...I'm seeing some very contentious arguements, with both sides using "user" language. 14:14:11 ... some centralization is good. 14:14:20 s/is good/can be good/ 14:14:23 q+ 14:15:12 ...with those cautions, I think the W3C failed a few years ago with EME. The Director came down against the users, in favor of some other interests. 14:15:38 s/centralization/centralization\/consolidation/ 14:15:45 mchampion: not only do people wrap themselves in the cloak of users, the real users may have different concerns. 14:16:18 ...EME is a great example. Users want free content (platform?), but users also want to watch Netflix. 14:16:46 ack dsinger 14:16:46 dsinger, you wanted to point out that actually we are users (maybe not typical) 14:16:49 ...the best I can summarize hte IETF conversation, it's "have this conversation, don't just presume you know" 14:16:50 q? 14:16:57 q+ 14:18:10 dsinger: I don't think we should be too shy - we are users as well. we don't represent all kinds of users, of course. we are one of the classes of users. There was a session yesterday about online harms on the internet. There was a question about if we were designing for the users, big companies, children, ?? 14:18:11 q- 14:18:17 +1 to dsinger 14:18:20 evaluating who "speaks for the user" can likely benefit from reading on intersectionality 14:18:30 +1 astearns 14:18:32 ack josh 14:18:37 +1 astearns 14:18:40 ...we are going to see a lot of people claiming the cloak of speaking for users without actua,lly working it through. 14:19:08 inviting a diverse membership will do a lot for intersectionality 14:19:30 joshco: tzviya mentioned diversity. One thing that can be done is identify target groups; the more groups you have the more diversity you have. 14:19:44 ...W3C could do outreach to marginalized groups. 14:20:15 daily shout out for W3C's Inclusiveness and Diversity CG https://github.com/w3c/idcg 14:20:40 ... reach out to LGBTQ+, minorities, etc. They can help connect and identify people who are technical enough to participate in e.g. a tech council. 14:20:51 https://www.w3.org/community/idcg/ 14:21:02 ack gendler 14:22:32 gendler: I'm Max Gendler, from NYT. I wanted to go back to Sam's point on conflict about multiple groups taking the user cloak. Usually when this happens, it's because they're measuring different things (e.g. privacy vs funding/click-through rates)_ 14:22:39 ...which one of these does the user really want? 14:22:55 ...so the number 1 practical issue is how do we frame the user? 14:22:58 q+ 14:23:00 +1 14:23:00 ack plh 14:23:08 q+ 14:23:12 q+ to note that measuring "click-through rates" is no better methodology than slot-machine manufacturers measuring pulls 14:23:20 annette_g has joined #users1st 14:23:33 [Max's examples were: a site measuring "a user stays on our site longer because they like these ads" v. an ad agency measuring click-through rates as their measure of success] 14:24:07 ack jyasskin 14:24:10 plh: we certainly talk about users differently. Generational experiences are a good example (older generations tend to have a smaller tolerance for privacy warnings, e.g.) 14:24:35 igarashi_ has joined #users1st 14:24:47 q+ 14:24:56 jyasskin: it's helpful that everyone is wrapping themselves in this flag, even if it's frustrating. it can give a better basis for conversation. 14:25:12 [it may also be misleading and less honest] 14:25:30 ...users should be first; how do we make progress in judging which user desire comes first? 14:25:41 q+ Mallory 14:25:58 https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8890.html#name-handling-conflicting-end-us 14:26:15 mchampion: I keep mentioning section 4 - you can't just "speak for users", you have to identify what the needs are. 14:26:31 how do we address conflicting user views.. part of my point was to engage with those communities, and letting them choose who represents and speaks for them them 14:26:39 ack Chris 14:26:41 scribe: weiler 14:26:48 q+ Annette 14:26:54 ack cw 14:27:45 chris: one of the most important pieces is to refine user benefits, so we can trade them off agasint each other. defaults matter a lot - more than anything. people should be enabled to make different decisions, but defaults powerful. need a detailed... 14:27:49 q+ to ask about principles and values rather than people 14:28:12 ack tantek 14:28:12 tantek, you wanted to note that measuring "click-through rates" is no better methodology than slot-machine manufacturers measuring pulls 14:28:13 +1 to cwilso 14:28:14 ... low level picture of what is best for the user. e.g. privacy. We weren't thinking about that in the beginning, but we need to nail it down now. 14:28:19 q- 14:28:55 tantek: I wanted to respond to a couple of things. the framing that users "must like it more because they're clicking more" 14:29:31 ... is dangerous. This is in effect addictive behavior; it's exploitive, not representative of what the user really "wants". 14:29:58 +1 to tantek 14:30:21 ...trading off surveillance of users for ??? isn't a good idea. This isn't a good idea - it's patronizing and disrespectful to treat users like lab rats; the session yesterday on ethical web was great. 14:30:40 ...alan stearns mentioned we should consider intersectionality: I totally agree with that. 14:30:50 Most end users have no idea about privacy issues 14:31:02 ...we should be measuring the web by "how does the system treat those who are most marginalized?" 14:31:06 +1 14:31:13 q? 14:31:20 ack Mallory 14:31:27 ...(we should also be assessing the W3C, not just the web) 14:31:31 s/marginalized/vulnerable/ 14:32:07 mallory Knodel (CDT): the general point I haven't seen made explicitly is the distinction between taking action/setting standards for the user, vs for the public good (?) 14:32:20 ...the web should be designed for everyone, not just current users. 14:32:33 q+ to make good point 14:33:14 ...framing needs as "in the public interest" can be a good way to do this - it incentivizes the long-term good of humanity, not just the short term of the user's immediate needs. 14:33:16 +1 14:33:18 s/public good (?)/public interest/ 14:33:21 q+ to comment on role of W3C in stewardship 14:33:23 s/is dangerous/is dangerous and is how slot-machine manufacturers and cigarette companies treat their "users"/ 14:33:46 +1 to Mallory's point that non-users also need to be considered 14:33:50 ...I also support evidence-based investigation. 14:33:52 +1 to mallory 14:34:16 s/like lab rats/like lab rats to be poked, prodded, observed, and measured/ 14:34:38 ... I don't want to conclude an approach, but don't just look at the immediate problems. 14:34:43 ack Annette 14:34:55 q+ 14:35:35 annette: I'm coming at this from a national laboratory, not somewhere that is "making money". The W3C should be about making the web a good place 14:35:59 ...by virtue of becomign a designer, you disqualify yourself from being a "user" 14:36:38 ...user-center design is good, but doesn't necessarily get us the best decisions. 14:37:22 s/measuring the web/evaluating the web and w3c as well, how we make technologies for the web/ 14:37:37 ...IETF's "internet is for users" is about the person behind the buttons. we may be trying to get people to click more, but we're doing it to try to get more money... this isn't necesarily serving users. 14:38:14 ...we shouldn't just be satifying "how do we get the user to click" 14:38:22 s/most marginalized/most vulnerable, considering different levels of privilege, and power disparities/ 14:38:27 q? 14:38:33 q+ 14:38:37 ack dsinger 14:38:37 dsinger, you wanted to ask about principles and values rather than people 14:39:46 q+ to ask how we would prevent a redux of the EME debacle 14:39:49 dsinger: this is a super-important debate. There is only one Web - how people use it isn't up to us. I want to try a contrarian view re:section 4. Values are only helpful when they guide us. Do we prefer truth, or free speech? 14:40:06 ...who decides what is good for users? 14:40:21 ...is addictive behavior something we should protect against? 14:40:25 s/speech?/speech? Do we prefer orderly society or the ability to do new things// 14:40:45 ...we need to prioritize our principles and values, not just have a set. 14:41:00 mchampion: identifying the priority of values is important. 14:41:05 q? 14:41:10 ScribeNick: fantasai 14:41:30 q+ 14:41:31 ack cwilso 14:41:33 cwilso, you wanted to make good point 14:41:46 chris: love this conversation 14:41:48 cwilso: Love this conversation. Absolutely agree with prioritization of principles, not just constituencies. 14:41:59 robin has joined #users1st 14:42:09 cwilso: I've had a post-it stuck to my monitor since a conversation with Tzviya 14:42:16 zakim, close the queue 14:42:16 ok, plh, the speaker queue is closed 14:42:20 cwilso: “Make the Web a good place, not just a technically sound one” 14:42:27 +1 14:42:33 cwilso: We need to prioritize some principles, we're going to have to figure some of these out 14:42:42 ack tzviya 14:42:42 tzviya, you wanted to comment on role of W3C in stewardship 14:42:42 cwilso: not just focus on good technically-sound things as we build the WEb 14:42:57 tzviya: Wanted to comment on priority of prinicples, need to be very cautious 14:43:06 tzviya: Free speech vs truth gets into very complicated ground. 14:43:18 tzviya: Be careful not to colonialize the Web 14:43:32 tzviya: This is a great philosophical conversation, but we're talking a lot about theory and about the Web, and not about W3C. 14:43:36 tzviya: What is the role of W3C here? 14:43:44 tzviya: I believe W3C is responsible for the stewardship of the Web 14:43:47 +! to tzviya on colonialize 14:43:55 tzviya: I quoted earlier a talk yesterday which I encourage ppl to look at 14:44:01 tzviya: What's not a great fit for W3C? 14:44:16 tzviya: What are we doing that is not driving us towards a Web that's for end-users / a public service? 14:44:23 ack r12a 14:44:30 r12a: Richard Ishida, Internationalization at W3C 14:44:40 r12a: My job is about trying to figure out what users need and try to deliver that 14:44:41 +1 to the point of not setting up dichotomies of values - better to acknowledge multiple conflicting values than decide which is best 14:45:02 r12a: In i18n, W3C still needs to reach out to parts of the world with less involvement. SE Aisa, Africa, etc. 14:45:03 It is difficult to represent users when the diversity of the W3C doesn't reflect the population. Those of us involved in w3c are at an advantage that the vast majority doesn't have and we need to be mindful of how that may skew our perspective. We shouldn't be making presumptions on what users need. 14:45:13 r12a: They use mobile phonse with limited bandwidth, for example 14:45:22 r12a: We need to focus our technology for those users as well 14:45:31 s/phonse/phone/ 14:45:36 r12a: On a sort of practical level as well, problem of not knowing which users to follow is a nice problem to have 14:45:45 r12a: You need to find a channel first for users to talk to W3C 14:45:48 r12a: And don't know how to do that 14:46:02 r12a: Should make it a lot easier for ppl to specify their requirements, than to participate in a WG to develop solutions 14:46:13 ack caribou 14:46:13 caribou, you wanted to mention that users 1st does not necessarily mean asking the end users 14:46:13 r12a: Lower the barrier to the user community to express what they want to W3C 14:46:40 caribou: We're discussing things outside scope of W3C, like greater Web (?) that seems impossible to define what it means 14:46:45 "specify their requirements" is the wrong question IMO. ask the what is their experience? what are the harms they've experienced? how are they actually using the web and how is it inspiring them and how is it letting them down? how would they like to use the web? 14:46:49 caribou: I think that a neutral Web would be good enough, in scope for W3C. 14:47:01 caribou: Initial point I want to make is, asking end-user is not going to get us somewhere useful 14:47:07 s/ask the what/ask users what/ 14:47:08 caribou: Most users don't know about privacy and security issues, for example 14:47:12 caribou: It's our job to do that 14:47:26 caribou: Taking into account end-users doesn't necessarily mean asking end-users 14:47:34 ack Avneesh 14:47:36 caribou: I think involving more end-users might not be the right strategy 14:47:57 Avneesh: Avneesh Singh, member of W3C AB, work for DAISY Consortium, similar org to W3C except that we serve ppl with disabilities 14:48:05 Avneesh: So we have gone through such questions also in our org 14:48:25 Avneesh: Personally, wrt conflict of interest, it is true that when there's conflict of interest we should look to prioritize users 14:48:29 Avneesh: But how to operate this 14:48:44 Avneesh: Agents of user, or other device manufacturer or ? 14:48:52 Avneesh: Opinion becomes greatly colored by their business interest 14:49:04 Avneesh: We went through this in DAISY with producers of accessible books and tech 14:49:10 If we want to think of prioritizing prinicples over consituencies, we still need a guide for selecting those principles. End-users-in-the-long-term is a useful tool for selecting principles. 14:49:18 Avneesh: Finally organizations that represent end suers, like National Organization of the Blind 14:49:26 Avneesh: We were able to get so many new strategies 14:49:36 Avneesh: We can start taking steps at the high level 14:49:44 Avneesh: Leave the philosophy, and try to engage the user organizations 14:49:53 Avneesh: Some aspects involving ppl with disabilities, for example 14:49:57 s/greater Web (?)/"good web"/ 14:49:59 Avneesh: organizations representing colored populations 14:50:10 Avneesh: organizations representing organizations ppl in Africa 14:50:17 Avneesh: When we have more involvement from organizations of this kind 14:50:21 Avneesh: we can move more towards user priorities 14:50:31 +1 to caribou in loving more end use might not be the good strategy 14:50:36 Avneesh: Instead of big companies defining the needs of users, engage these organizations to define 14:50:39 q? 14:50:45 Avneesh: These are starting steps, we can dig further as we go along 14:50:58 +1 to Avneesh on taking small concrete steps 14:51:02 ack sam 14:51:07 MichaelChampion__: Many ppl mentioned this is a philosophical conversation. Want to think about what W3C can concretely do to address 14:51:08 ack weiler 14:51:08 weiler, you wanted to ask how we would prevent a redux of the EME debacle 14:51:27 weiler: As we look at legal entity, what can/should we do to make sure that our leadership in that legal entity is selected with awareness of how they look at these issues? 14:51:37 weiler: and make sure that leadership feels some independence, and is not beholden to only the Members? 14:51:41 +1 14:51:42 weiler: What can we do concretely there? 14:51:48 plh: Looking for answers at this point... 14:51:48 ack igarashi 14:51:59 igarashi_: Igarashi, Sony, W3C AB 14:52:13 igarashi_: Difficult issue. Very hard to decide what is good for the end user 14:52:27 igarashi_: Emphasis that each organization that each member, prioritize end user first 14:52:31 igarashi_: but hard to say what is good for user 14:52:41 igarashi_: I consider that one way... diversity discussion and inclusion 14:52:52 igarashi_: we need to gather the voice of various member organization 14:52:57 igarashi_: not just ? 14:53:19 igarashi_: not just gender diversity, but international /geogrpahical / regional / cultural diversity 14:53:24 q+ to say again that the W3C (and IETF) have to realize that we cannot pretend any more that we're value-neutral and impact-neutral; we have to discuss and embrace values and principles 14:53:26 igarashi_: good for discussion of what is good for end user 14:53:33 zakim, open the queue 14:53:33 ok, plh, the speaker queue is open 14:54:01 MichaelChampion__: Want to get thumbs up / down on some items I've proposed 14:54:18 +1000 to discussing values and principles 14:54:19 MichaelChampion__: 1. Should W3C have a discussion on what it's core values are and document on what the priority of this? Is that a useful conversation 14:54:21 +1 14:54:24 +1 14:54:25 +1 14:54:26 +1 14:54:27 +1 14:54:29 +1 14:54:30 +1 14:54:30 +1 14:54:33 +1 14:54:33 +1 14:54:34 +1 14:54:36 +1 14:54:40 +1 14:54:42 +1 14:54:51 +1 with diversity and inclusion discussion 14:54:55 +1 14:54:57 ack fantasai 14:55:08 +1 (lurking on this session) 14:55:37 fantasai: I think those should be separate quesitons. 14:55:42 fantasai: 100% agree to document core values. 14:55:47 Since Core Values has been mentioned, I'm going to make a pitch for the Friday session on this topic: https://www.w3.org/2020/10/TPAC/breakout-schedule.html#focusvalues 14:55:59 fantasai: prioritization, however, might vary on case-by-case basis, depending on how exactly they interact in a particular issue 14:56:22 MichaelChampion__: 2. Do we see W3C as a technical organization, and this out of scope, or is W3C shifting towards advocacy? 14:56:31 cstrode has joined #users1st 14:56:32 q+ 14:56:41 q+ 14:56:45 there is no such thing as a purely technical organisation 14:56:48 +1 14:56:56 ack fan 14:56:57 tech is not neutral 14:57:01 not out of scope, cannot be just technical 14:57:07 +1 to robin 14:57:13 WebFoundation is better suited for advocacy 14:57:13 q- 14:57:14 +1 to robin and tantek 14:57:24 +1 to robin 14:57:39 No, we should not advocate on public questions, but we should inform public debate, and we should have values that guide our own decisions and choices 14:57:52 ivan has left #users1st 14:58:05 fantasai: I disagree that W3C should be an advocacy organization, should not be advocating for political or organizational change outside W3C. 14:58:20 fantasai: but should espouse its core values and integrate them into its technology 14:58:27 fantasai: and teaching people how to use it and why it matters 14:58:30 There is no such thing as "purely technical" 14:58:30 MichaelChampion__: 14:58:37 q+ 14:58:38 ack florian_irc 14:58:49 q+ Mallory 14:58:53 florian_irc: Previous question was a false dichotomoy, do tech or advocacy? 14:58:57 florian_irc: Tech isn't divorced from values. 14:59:00 +100 to Florian 14:59:04 +1 florian 14:59:07 +1 to Florian 14:59:08 florian_irc: When we bulid tech that supports a11y and i18n, this isn't value-free 14:59:12 +1 to Florian 14:59:15 florian_irc: so values vs. tech is a false question 14:59:16 We should consciously _receive_ advocacy and incorporate it into technical specs. 14:59:20 ack tzviya 14:59:32 florian_irc: Agree with fantasai, should incorporate values into tech, not do advocacy directly. 14:59:34 ack Mallory 14:59:39 zakim, close the queue 14:59:39 ok, plh, the speaker queue is closed 14:59:42 it's just that some areas don't need advocacy for them to be taken care of? 14:59:58 Mallory: Agree. There are consequences for technical decisions we make, the quesiton is do we consider those consequences or do we ignore them? 15:00:16 MichaelChampion__: Thanks for conversation, found it enlightening 15:00:23 +1 to Mallory 15:00:31 +1 mallory 15:00:31 MichaelChampion__: Don't know what the next steps might be, but did set up a GH if anyone wants to post issues there or propose documents 15:00:50 https://github.com/WebStdFuture/Users1st/ 15:00:50 --> https://github.com/WebStdFuture/Users1st/ Users1st 15:00:51 https://github.com/WebStdFuture/ 15:00:52 MichaelChampion__: Hope ppl on AB and Team and in Groups think about these questions and try to put some of the things we learned today into practice 15:00:57 https://github.com/WebStdFuture/Users1st/blob/main/BreakoutQuestions.md 15:00:58 link: https://github.com/WebStdFuture/Users1st 15:01:16 That was great, thanks all! 15:01:34 zakim, end meeting 15:01:34 As of this point the attendees have been Alan, plh, dsinger, weiler, tzviya, Karima, Avneesh, MChampion, cwilso, Tatsuya_Igarashi, jes_daigle, pl_mrcy, tantek, Hidde, csarven, 15:01:37 ... gendler, !, Justine_ 15:01:37 RRSAgent, please draft minutes v2 15:01:37 I have made the request to generate https://www.w3.org/2020/10/27-users1st-minutes.html Zakim 15:01:40 I am happy to have been of service, plh; please remember to excuse RRSAgent. Goodbye 15:01:44 Zakim has left #users1st