[OSM-talk] Barriers of Entry

[Richard Weait]

I'm glad that you both agree so closely.

Paraphrasing Frederik, "Not all barriers are bad."

Paraphrasing Serge, "Not all barriers are good."

[removed many analogies]

I'd like to see needless barriers to understanding and using
OpenStreetMap reduced or removed.  I think that we have done that
pretty well as a community.  in past we've removed barriers such as,
the servers are too slow, I want an editor on my smartphone, etc.

I think that we could do better with our road signs though.  Here.
Let me torture an analogy for you.

Imagine that we are driving and using road signs for guidance.  I
wouldn't be happy to be stopped for speeding because an informational
sign ("food, fuel next exit") was posted directly in front of a
reduced speed limit sign.  Right now, most of our signs are on the
wiki.  Many of them would be more effective if we duplicated them and
put them in other places as well.

In OSM we have regulatory signs, like speed limit 60km/h.  Ours say,
"Don't abuse the tile server", "Map what is verifiable" and "Don't tag
for the renderer".  You won't always "get a ticket" if you tag for a
renderer but you could; I'm looking at you blackadder :)
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/changeset/594171

We also have informational signs, like "food and fuel next exit".  But
in OpenStreetMap they read, "List of common tags: see Map
Features[1]", or "List of OSM editing software[2]", "visitor
information center[3]"

Some of our signs could be better organized.  We might even need some
Big Green Signs, like the gantry freeway signs, that say, "iPhone
Developers, exit 2km", and "No Importers in this lane".  This is what
I see as a substantial part of any new OSM site design; getting the
right information signs in the right order.

And we'll continue to remove barriers as we find them.  But this dead
end street right here is only a barrier if we refuse to go back three
blocks and make the right turn that we were supposed to make.  The
dead end belongs here; we just missed an informational sign.

[1] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features
[2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Editors
[3] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Video_tutorials