Summing up the Outreachy experience with Tor
This comes as the promised follow-up to my previous post about working as an Outreachy intern with Tor. My intern period officially ended on 5th March 2018, but after attending the Tor meet-up in Rome shortly after, I decided to continue my involvement with the Tor community.
The project : tracking user issues
I spent the months of December, January and February working on my project tracking user issues, and as a result interacting and collaborating with people from different teams within Tor.
My weekly activities consisted of going through feedback forums and different channels of user communication, and finding and categorising the information into a systematic manner. I maintained a comprehensive spreadsheet for all the data collected, and was able to take out relevant insights and translate them into design or content related solutions. I then relayed this information to the developer and community teams, who then incorporated it into creating and prioritising tickets and generating content for the support portal.
I also took part in weekly UX and community team meetings over IRC, where redesign projects using the newly developed style guide at Tor were discussed.
By the end of three months, I had taken part in several ongoing projects and was beginning to feel included and at home within the Tor community.
The Rome meetup
In March, right after my intern period ended, I was invited to the bi-annual Tor meeting. The meeting takes place in different locations each time, and to my excitement, it was in Rome this time around.
The travel to and from Rome along with my stay there was taken care of by Tor. The venue of the hotel being in the city centre, great views were ensured from my window. It was also easy enough to walk around and explore all the major attractions of Rome on foot, soaking in the experience of the city.
The meeting’s environment was one of the most inclusive I ever witnessed. The people at Tor come from different countries and cultures, but I found it very easy to blend in and be comfortable. After finishing the meetings for the day, we usually headed out for gelato hunting and sightseeing.
On the day before last, we had a mid-week party at a happening club in central Rome, where there was plenty of interesting conversation over some amazing cocktails.
Facilitating the user issues session
In order to present my work, share findings, and gather feedback, I held an open User issues session on the first day of the meeting. The session was attended by a diverse crowd of Tor people: developers, UX designers, network researchers, and community team members.
Next plans
I was recently nominated as a core contributor in Tor, which means I will continue contributing to Tor and it’s mission. My next efforts will focus on raising awareness about Tor in India. So if you are a privacy enthusiast, or a web user concerned about their data, feel free to get in touch with me! :)
