OpenMRS.org project

  • The OpenMRS Wiki's current structure is dense and overwhelming, especially for new and non-technical users, and requires a user-profile driven redesign.

  • The project aims to improve the Wiki's information architecture, usability, and navigation by incorporating best practices and benchmarking against other organizations.

  • Key improvements include decluttering content, introducing a clear OpenMRS overview, adding visuals, strategically utilizing "Learn more" links, and refining the left-hand menu.

  • The project will focus on categorizing information for different user types (technical vs.non-technical) with clear keywords for easy navigation and accessibility.

  • The overall objective is to transform the OpenMRS Wiki into a user-friendly resource with a clear structure and intuitive navigation for all users.

This page contains the details of a technical writing project accepted for Google Season of Docs.

Project summary

Open source organization:
OpenMRS.org
Technical writer:
marslan8530
Project name:
Review and Refactor existing Wiki to be more User profile driven
Project length:
Standard length (3 months)

Project description

Whenever we go OpenMRS Wiki page, we see a dense compact information menu. For a user who is comfortable with this menu and has been using it for a while, this may be okay but for somebody new, especially non-technical users, it will cause problems. During our online meeting on 27th June, I also emphasized that now-a-days people are very busy and want whatever they are looking for in a very short span of time at their fingertips and we are missing these things. We need to understand information architecture and implement the basic principles within our Wiki. There is a process named bench marking, in which we compare our progress with some company at the top of field. Similar to that, we will compare our Wiki page with some other reputed organization also to find more flaws in our Wiki but initially following are problems I see we need to solve upfront to ensure better shape of Wiki of OpenMRS

  • Very dense, A lot of information irrelevant is present which can be removed.
  • What is OPENMRS? There is no proper introduction written at the start.
  • Pictures and white spaces always attract a user, we need to add more pictures at home screen. Possibly a screen with recent pictures of our work continuously shuffling.
  • There is an option named “Learn more”. We definitely need to use this. These is no point whatsoever in pasting whole information about something upfront. We just need to give them a preview and they can dig down deeper if they are interested.
  • We need to improve menu on the left. It has almost all the information a non-technical user is looking for but is a bit unpleasant to eye and compact.
  • Tables at the home are not well placed. We can manage them in another tab and add it to left side menu which will empty space for more relevant information which we can discuss and come up with during project.
  • We also need to discuss what is meant by a non-technical user. They aren’t expected to be familiar with coding or expert navigators. Basic information at start, advanced deep down. We need to categorize our Wiki page in major chunks and use such keywords upfront that a viewer can easily predict which tab has the information they seek.