The document provides tips for open source project maintainers on how to effectively communicate what their project is about to users. It advises determining who the target audience is and understanding their needs and perspectives. Project descriptions should use the same language as users, focus on specific outcomes rather than vague features, and be honest about the project's current capabilities rather than future plans. Maintainers should also differentiate their project from competitors and consider what core beliefs motivate it.

1. How to talk about your open source project so people get it
Emily Omier
ATO 2022
@EmilyOmier

2. Positioning consultant

3. Have you ever encountered an open source
project you didn’t get?

4. Making sense matters.
• It’s a matter of respect
• People don’t use projects they don’t understand

5. Does my project have this problem?
• If you have to ask yourself….
• Do people ask weird questions about it?
• Do you get a lot of blank stares?

6. Help people get it.
• Talk to your users
• Use the same language your users do
• Focus on outcomes
• Be speci
fi
c
• Be honest

7. Know thy audience
You can’t talk about your project e
ff
ectively if you don’t know who the
audience is

8. What are your current users like?
• What pain are they experiencing?
• What outcome do they want?
• What do they compare you to?
• What do they believe?

9. What outcome do they want?
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10. How do your users talk about you?

11. Use same language as your users
• Category creation is possible! But hard, expensive and slow.
• “Creative phrasing” is usually just confusing
• Even within the bounds of established terminology, there could be multiple
accurate ways to describe your project. Which do your users prefer?

12. Be speci
fi
c
• Vague project descriptions help nobody
• Be short, but be speci
fi
c
• Leave out the things people don’t care about

13. Be honest
• It’s easy to accidentally misrepresent your project
• Talk about what you actually do now, not what you plan to deliver in 2
years

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16. Differentiate, Differentiate, Differentiate
Don’t talk about your project in exactly the same way your competitors
talk about their projects

17. Bonus: Take a stand
Figure out what core beliefs motivate your project, and talk about them

18. Do you know what your project is?
• You need a noun to answer that question
• You should also have a more action, outcome-oriented way to talk about
your project —> a tagline, in other words

19. Now what?
• Write it down somewhere.
• Get all maintainers on board with how you’re going to talk about the
project.
• Update your website/docs/ReadMe
• See if you need to update your roadmap.

20. Questions?
www.emilyomier.com
emily@emilyomier
@EmilyOmier
Podcast: The Business of Open Source