2026-03-17 –, Room Wintergarten
What happens when a developer-first open source project tries UX research for the first time? This talk tells the story of Prometheus's first UX mentorship and explores the reality of introducing research to a dev-first community. Was it worth it? Will they do it again? And what can other OSS projects learn from their experience?
When I joined the Prometheus project through the Linux Foundation Mentorship program, UX research wasn’t something the community had ever done before. Prometheus is a mature, developer-focused open source project, so introducing UX research meant stepping into new territory—for both me and the community.
This talk shares what that experience looked like: the messy but rewarding process of doing UX in the open, learning to align design with a developer culture, and building trust in a space where design wasn’t yet a familiar practice. It also looks at what happened after the research: the impact on the project, the momentum it created for future design work, and how Prometheus continues to nurture design contributions today.
Key takeaways:
- Candid lessons from integrating design into technical open source communities
- What helps design efforts become part of the community, not just a one-time experiment
- Practical insights for projects considering design contributions and for designers exploring open source.
Victoria Nduka is a UX designer who built her design career through open source. She’s passionate about making community-driven projects more usable and inclusive, and has contributed to accessibility and design efforts across several OSS communities.