Designer’s lives: Being paid for OSS contributions

[Erioldoesdesign]

All of the designers in the study were at one time, unpaid volunteer contributors. At the time of the study, only twenty percent of participants were paid full-time to work on OSS. Sixty percent of the participants were paid in some way for their contributions to OSS during the diary study period, either with a Part-Time salary or through project contracts.
The remaining twenty percent described themselves as unpaid (though they received travel stipends for an event).

Eighty percent of participants stated that being fairly paid helped them with their livelihoods and demonstrated appreciation and respect for their design work. Designers also reported receiving ‘swag’ (tshirts, free tools and useful items) was an act of respect and appreciation for their work. Participants described OSS projects as having more flexible marketing budgets for aspects such as design, and stated they found it harder to be paid for UI, UX and design research.

One designer described being paid means the work is “more serious I guess?” and had an expectation that paid work would be better managed and planned by the OSS maintainers/teams, although the designer did not find this to be the case. Only twenty percent of the participants described the act of receiving payment as unpleasant (“I lose the joy when I’m paid”), and against OSS values (one designer described not liking the business aspect of OSS) whereas another participant spoke about the hope for universal income and that while that wasn’t a possibility they “feel lucky to be working on these projects and paid for it”. Another participant also described feeling lucky to be able to be paid for contributions and to speak at conferences. It’s worth noting the twenty percent contributing to OSS completely voluntarily had a full-time paid job. They spoke of the OSS community around them being composed of “people working state jobs” so they had relatively stable income in order to contribute to OSS.

Contrary to the above-mentioned view of pay being linked to business-like practices, one designer stated that “unpaid contributions causes burnout for volunteers”. We believe this is not solely linked to payment, but indicative of the absence of any kind of recognition or thanks for design contributions. Connected to this lack of appreciation is a comment by one designer about what is valued in OSS, and recognition across prominent OSS spaces such as GitHub “(It is) Sad that some people get paid for the same things you do. Makes you feel bad. Sometimes I joke about GitHub stars! And why is it only very technical people? Designers are still doing essential work. Big organizations or programs that help recognise designers are needed”.

When designers described not being paid in OSS, their focus was more around a lack of expectations on time, communication and commitment that comes with the freedom to choose when and what to contribute. This "structurelessness" comes with a particular learned impression of OSS as being governed "loosely" and in a way that allows for people to transition in and out of OSS contributions as they desire. A designer spoke of when an OSS project “devolves into cliques and possessiveness” where the “the main contributor has a lot of influence”, often dictating how the OSS should be designed and built even when designers are presenting them with user research that may evidence the contrary to their views.

There is still a notable absence of recognition of design and designers in OSS, and a narrative that design and designers are needlessly disruptive and pushy, sometimes even by the designers themselves. Being included within the existing systems of recognition is a good first step. Continuing to increase and improve designers’ visibility in these spaces is critical, yet a dedicated and specific way to recognise design in OSS is still needed so that design in OSS helps designers progress in their own fields of design. These fields of design are comparatively unaware of OSS as a viable place to practice design.