Open letter to FoldIt research team - Communication between team and players

[Nina]

For a long time now, I have felt that communication between the research team and the players is disappointingly dysfunctional and I wonder why it keeps being so after so many months of open access to the beta version.

The media has on several occasions shown interest in this project and every time there has been a surge in player number, but for some reason many of those curious people never return. Although it doesn't puzzle me as much as some other aspects of the game, I still think there should be more analysis done on why the game doesn't attract to such an extent that the great masses would stay for good. I think one of the main reasons is the lack of information available on the project - in the About section one can still read the same basic, today rather unsatisfactory introduction that has been there since the early months of 2008. The Home section seems to offer news on updates of software, but basically nothing more, and the Videos section still offers the same material that isn't up-to-date as far as for instance tools goes.

To me it is a huge question mark why the homepage needs to go down every time work on software updates or whatever is done (the correct term is unfortunately unknown to me since I'm no computer geek). On those occasions it would be very convenient in the Home section to be able to read when the work is expected to finish, but as it is now all goes blank for an unknown period of time. Especially if it happens during prime folding time, the weekend, this is unbelievable to me.

Is it up to the players to teach newcomers the game by in global chat repeating endlessly what the project is about and why it has such great scientific value even though most of us actually are completely in the dark? And is the Wiki supposed to be the only source of practical information on how to play the game? If the players were familiar with the resources, needs of assistance and wishes of the research team, it would be another situation entirely, but right now few of us know what, when and how to expect both input and output.

In the fora, the response from admin and the rest of the team is rather selective and, unless I'm not completely mistaken, there is a certain pattern to what kind of threads are the trendiest. Many great suggestions have been posted and people aren't writing sour comments solely, but show genuine interest and great creativity, and they keep coming back even after the 100th crash of the day. Some even offer very useful help like dejerpha does in this thread: http://fold.it/portal/node/596477 . To me it seems that the continuously silent research team isn't helping itself at all by not responding to good initiatives, but rather keeps digging an early grave, which is more than unfortunate.

Frustration starts to grow when there is lack of information and understanding. The human being is intelligent and creative, but for some reason she hits a wall when this frustration takes too huge a dimension, after which a previous interest in an ongoing project disappears, sometimes for good. I have participated in research myself and understand the need of keeping results secret as long as they are unpublished in a scientific journal, but the above-described problem areas of the FoldIt project have nothing to do with results from folding and therefore secrecy isn't necessary but in fact harmful.

It is my sincere belief that this project could reach the stars if it were to take another course - one where there is an open dialogue between the two parties, where the needs of both are known to the other and where respect for the work of the other is visible. Practical examples of respect for the players are responses to each of the posts directed at the team in the fora (use a standard answer if time is sparse during more hectic hours, but at least acknowledge the input from a player/volunteer who has gone through trouble on behalf of the project or it will be perceived as extremely arrogant behaviour indeed) and a blog on news from the research team with positive feedback once in a while and updates on how busy the team might be and therefore what help they would like to get from the players. Most of the active players have a genuine interest not only in the project but in science in general and harbour warm feelings towards the beauty of the cellular machinery in living organisms. Even adults need to hear they are doing well, so please don't underestimate the power of positive feedback - the time one invests in keeping people happy will be repaid many times.

Thank you for your time.
Nina

[axcho]

Thanks for posting this.

I joined the Foldit team in late September, making me the newest member of our six-person development team. Since then, I've had some time to become familiar with the project and the team - what the current situation is, and how things tend to be done.

Given that, I think I can safely say that any poor communication or inappropriate behavior by the Foldit team has been a result of ignorance rather than malicious intent. I am very sorry that it is has led to such frustration and disillusionment on the part of some of the players here.

When I first started here, I did notice that forum threads were rarely responded to by anyone on the team. I'm the kind of person who likes replying to people on forums, and if I had detected an attitude of yes we are very involved with the forums and the community of Foldit players I think I would have gladly begun racking up a lot of posts here. However, as a newbie both in terms of folding and the Foldit project, I had fewer answers than questions, and assumed that I should follow the example my more experienced teammates. That is, focus on the code, and on the tasks that have already been laid out for us - posting on forums is presumably something to do on our free time. Understand that for the most part, we are all students, and Foldit is but one of the many projects and assignments competing for our attention.

So, please forgive us for our past mistakes. I've noticed a huge number of things about Foldit that are far from ideal since joining this project. Many of those things I plan to address myself, particularly the poor usability and intro levels of the game. [for the curious, my primary inspiration here and here] I also think a huge amount of improvement could be had in the theming of the game, to really convey the story of "what the project is about and why it has such great scientific value". To tell the truth, this story has never even been explained to me, so I'm hoping that I will have the opportunity to talk with someone who is really passionate about the potential for the project so that I may be able to help convey that through the game.

But there's one thing I could start doing right now: I could start acting as designated Foldit forum replyer! How about it - I could add "Foldit Community Manager" to my list of titles. ;)

I know this doesn't solve the problem entirely, but from now on I'll be glad to reply to as many posts in the forum as I can, answering questions if possible and forwarding requests onto the rest of the team. Given how long it takes for Foldit to compile on this computer, I'll probably have plenty of time to spend on the forums. :p

Thoughts?

[Nina]

Thank you for your reply.

It will make a difference especially if posts in the forum are noticed by the research team and might even increase the amount of creative ideas popping up, because players now know that they will get through to the research team.

Everyone can understand that the budget is limited, but I also think the folding community could be activated a lot more when assistance is needed, so why not take us into account a bit more? Not all projects would be suitable to involve "just anyone" in, but I certainly think the knowledge players are sitting on could be mobilized to a greater extent.

I am aware of the fact that change isn't possible over night, but this is a much appreciated improvement!

[admin]

The case tracker which I put in place over the last week was intended to address your concern, Nina. I hope it will give more accountability to the players in a meaningful way.

Cheers,
admin

[DisposableHeart]

Why do you guys have to poison everything with your meaningless quarrel over nothing? Do it in PM if you really have to. Do not hang the laundry on the street. Self-moderation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Deleted user]

[Nina]

Thanks, admin, I've already used the case tracker and it seems to be working fine. I especially like the possibility of adjusting priority level.

And as for negative, negative, negative people, go elsewhere already.

[DisposableHeart]

Actually, adding a feedback feature to the site solves no problems if there are no responses from the developer team. The problem so far was not that we could not shout, but that no one was listening, let alone responding.

[Nina]

Either you, DH, are openly questioning my intellectual capabilities by explaining to me the quite obvious or you are shooting daggers at the research team, thereby being unconstructive in a situation where there has already been made visible progress regarding the issue that I brought up in my opening post of this thread.

And as for all players' comments, I started this thread in a constructive way, trying to keep the tone as respectful as possible, and find it most displeasing, hateful even, when others infect and poison as important a discussion as this one, trying to twist it into something else and adding to it with completely irrelevant comments that aren't bringing anything new to the table. Go start a new thread where you can be as seriously negative and shockingly unconstructive as you wish, but don't force me to be a part of it - please stay quiet already, unless you remain respectful and constructive!

[admin]

I'd like to stay out of this, but as a Hungarian like DH, I'll have to get stuck into the negativity so often characteristic of our people.

So to spell it out in unequivocal terms: I think the problem so far has not been our unwillingness to respond to issues but that issues were brought up in a disorganised ad-hoc manner; confusing questions, problems, suggestions and good bug reports into one, often many in one thread, such that they disappeared easily off our radar when newer posts came up; that issues could not be closed in a satisfactory manner; that it wasn't clear who was responsible for things so nobody took responsibility; etc. This case tracker solves all of these issues, and in fact Michael, who is on holiday and has no duty to be using it, has closed a couple of issues on it too. Obviously the success of the case tracker relies on our willingness to be helpful and accountable and inspired by the players, but as I think these things were not missing before, things will improve from now.