The Complaint Challenge - A Year Long Endeavor

People complain about a lot of things on deviantART. Some of those complaints are perfectly legitimate, some not so much. There are a lot of issues that can be solved with a simple search through dA's FAQ directory. Problems that can't be solved that way can be sent to the Help Desk.

But sometimes people complain about stuff that's not so simple. People complain that the quality of Daily Deviations is going downhill. They complain that Community Volunteers are impersonal or inaccessible. They complain that Critique doesn't happen often enough or that when it does, there's no quality to it. They complain about the fragmentation of _________ Community and how when they joined, things were so much better.

My submission to `thorns Complaint Challenge is going to cover as many of those harder to solve complaints as possible. I will design 12 activities, one for each month in 2012, that aim to address various complaints around dA. The activities are designed to promote positivity, community participation, and quality interaction. As incentives for participation, I am going to hold lotteries for points and other prizes at the end of each activity.

Every month I will produce a news article outlining the complaint the activity is meant to address, the rules for participation, and the prizes available. Each of those articles will include a link to this one, which explains the project as a whole, and this article will contain links to the activity outlines as they are produced.

How You Can Help

Participate!

Each activity will be designed so that any deviant should be able to participate. The tasks will be simple and straightforward.

Donate!

I aim to give out about 500 points after each activity. That amounts to 6000 points total, so any donation toward this project is very much appreciated. There is a donation widget at the top of my profile page.

Promote!

Spread the word about this through your journals and news articles. Tell your friends about it. Tweet it, Facebook it, Email it, however you let people know something awesome is going down - do that to this deviation.

Suggest!

Let me know how you tackle specific complaints. Your suggestions could help me design activities I hadn't thought of. You'll be given full credit for helping design said activities.

Complaints to be Addressed

January - Daily Deviations | Results Part I | Results Part II | Results Part III
February - Critique | CI: Lit Week | CI: Photography Week | Critique Contest
March - Lack of Participation #SolutionsSanctuary
April - Community Volunteers/$taff
May - Navigation around deviantART
June - Trolls
July - Quality (of everything )
August - Fragmentation
September - Low Support for Lit Community
October - Miscats/Mature Content Filters
November - Popularity vs. Under-Exposure
December - Literature Gallery Organization

Complaints to be Addressed are subject to change depending on events within the community. (e.g. If Version 8 is released and magically makes navigating a breeze, I'll have to find something else to address in May.)

Questions? Leave a comment!

Thanks!
Lili