My Twitter Digest for 10/26/2015

Why is design in open source projects often ugly?

If you know a professional designer who is contributing time to an open source project, chances are they fall into one of these three categories, explained Garth Braithwaite, who spoke Monday at the All Things Open conference:
1) They were tricked into it or peer­ pressured by a friend who is also an open source project manager.
2) They work for a corporate sponsor, so they’re paid for their contributions.
3) They’re a designer who just so happens to be a developer.

Source: Report from All Things Open: Design in open source | Opensource.com

Open source projects often attract top flight developers, but designers are few and far between. The result is a lot of function over form design that is often utilitarian and ugly. This articles looks at why this is and what might be done about it.

 

Online Course Report lists 50 most popular MOOCs of all time

Unlike regular college/ university courses, MOOCs can attract many thousands of enrollees around the world. They can come in the form of active course sessions with participant interaction, or as archived content for self-paced study. MOOCs can be free, or there can be a charge – either on a subscription basis or a one-time charge. Free MOOCs sometimes have a paid “verified certificate” option.

— The 50 Most Popular MOOCs of All Time http://www.onlinecoursereport.com/the-50-most-popular-moocs-of-all-time/

A good list, but be sure to read the caveats at the beginning and end.