I'm a dev. I don't really like to talk to people unless I have to. Getting me on the phone for 15 minutes with a stranger... is unlikely. Even with a $20 gift card incentive. I presume most other devs are the same.
So, what's the best way to talk with devs and gather meaningful feedback to be able to improve the project? I want to know answers to questions like, "Would you use this? If not, why not?" or "After reading the docs, can you explain back to me what the project does for you?"
Maybe HN isn't the place to ask this. Maybe this is too business focused. But, I figured I'd ask anyway. What ideas do you have for how an Open Source project could gather feedback from you? It's a very good way to "give back" to Open Source, so maybe that's the best angle to take?
Thanks!
0: https://github.com/lunasec-io/lunasec
You probably want to change that line, it's not true and/or a cheeky joke that turns off devs.
More generally, is this project basically Hashicorp Vault?
re: where to get feedback...
- your current users, though this is a chicken-egg problem
- I've had good luck in slack orgs, don't be marketing or fishing for users. Get to know the group before making an ask
- make it as easy as possible in as many places as possible. GitHub, a form, by email, from both inside and outside the app
If you are trying (maybe even if not) to make this a business, checkout https://startupschool.org and https://coss.media
People Powered is a good book about community building
In fact, the cash incentive is a bit of a turn off. I happily waste hours a day giving my opinion on the internet, but now that you've paid $20, it becomes work.