Finding and interviewing ex-editors
I really like this informal approach of leveraging everyone's contacts--seems like a great way to pull valuable insights/perspectives quickly.
Yeah, I agree this is helpful. Just that we may need to take them with a grain of salt, since they may not represent the population at large. We should use them to brainstorm ideas and insights, but should avoid relying on them for firm conclusions.
I agree. Seeking out informal views is good as a way to get broader input about a matter. But we need to consider the views as a snapshot of a subgroup's thinking about the situation. Taken in that context, the insights offered can enhance our knowledge since they might fill in gaps or at least give us a sketchy idea of missing perspectives. By considering it this way we don't give too much weight to what might turn out to be a tiny minority opinion. If over time the opinions are repeated, then we'll know that we are on to something significant and we (or someone else) can more fully document the views in a more formal way. Our end product is part of a bigger process. There will be opportunities for others to take what we find and build on it if it is something interesting that we don't fully flesh out. FloNight 10:51, 31 October 2009 (UTC)