Operators and Nymjas are creating the future of Nym together

Results of the first co-creation workshop to improve community experience

Author: Nym

August 29, 20246 mins read

Results of the first co-creation workshop to improve community experience

Believe it or not, the Nym community has been operating Nym nodes since even before the mainnet launch in 2022.

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Since then, our operators and stakers have become experts in Nym tooling like the wallet and explorer.

This is why Nym recently got together with our core community to harvest our collective wisdom. The goal was to figure out what works and what doesn’t to improve running Nym nodes and contributing as Nymjas under the Nym Squad League framework.

Below is an overview of our first community co-creation session. It presents the common themes and patterns of the feedback you shared with us, and the actions we are going to take to address them.

The community process

What makes Nym different from other privacy technologies, like traditional VPNs or proxy servers, is its reliance on a network of independent service providers. But who are the Nym node operators? Maybe it’s hard to believe, but they are just ordinary people all over the world dedicated to enabling privacy for everyone by contributing their time and expertise with the goal of maintaining high quality mixnet infrastructure.

User centricity is one of Nym’s core values. This is why it’s vitally important to develop our network and tooling in collaboration with these very people who make it possible. And so Nym has just completed one of the first co-creation workshops with long term experts in the Nym community of operators.

The workshop focused on two topics to improve collectively:

The Nym Squad League onboarding, communication, and reward processes
Improving new operator onboarding and discussing Nym Explorer & Harbourmaster functionalities and ideas

Nym still believes that only together with our network operators can we create the tools that enable the highest quality of decentralized network operations. So here are the results of our first co-creation.

Goal 1: Simplify documentation, resources, and guides

The first clear message Nym received was a collective need for improved and clearer documentation: simpler guides, checklists, regular highlights of best practices, and more.

So here’s what we are going to do:

Nym’s DevRel team has already been working on a major simplification of Nym Docs. The results of this will be available soon.
Starting next season, simplifying and updating Nym docs will become a new NSL mission. Got a simpler way of expressing something? Are there examples or additional context which are missing? Caught an outdated piece of information somewhere? Submit a PR and let’s fix it!
Starting next season, NSL will also receive a guides and resources mission. Propose and create simplified guides and contribute to community-created resources like the VPS provider list and the legal forum with support from the Squad Wealth Fund.
Also starting next season, each Squad League mission will be supported with templates & examples. Proposals (requests for grants) and submissions (proofs of work) will receive templates to help applicants develop better submissions.

Goal 2: Improve first joiner experience and onboarding

The Nym learning curve can definitely be steep. This applies both to running Nym nodes and contributing via the Nym Squad League. Besides the improvements to documentation, our community also suggested helping new joiners in two key ways: improving the onboarding flow and providing mentorship.

Here’s what Nym is going to do:

Simplify the Nym onboarding journey: This effort is being led by Hux who is already working with expert community members. Have an idea on how to improve the experience of Nym’s future operators? Just message Hux on Element, he is always open for new suggestions.
Shinobi and squad NSL mentorship: Starting next season, Nymsters can get mentorship from Shinobis to start contributing via the NSL framework and earn their first promotion. Those who are looking to form Squads can receive mentorship from existing squads.
New node operator mentorship: There were multiple suggestions, such as a few standard sessions to guide new node operators, or dedicating a part of the bi-weekly Nym node operator AMA to supporting new joiners. If you want to contribute to such an initiative, please reach out to Sudo on Matrix, or propose your ideas on the node operator chat or the Nym forum!

Improving the way we communicate

You shared a lot of great ideas about how information should be shared with the community, which platforms we should use, and what role each platform could play in the Nym information ecosystem. We hear you loud and clear: effective communication is crucial in order to work well together.

Based on your suggestions, here’s what we are going to do:

Community members John Smith and Kaled are working on a self-hosted, Nym community calendar, compatible with all common digital calendars. All events such as AMAs, Friday hangouts, and community calls will be available here so you never miss them.
A read-only announcement channel has been created on the Nym Matrix server for the Squad League so important information about deadlines, missions, seasons, and more will never get lost.
All announcements and updates related to node operation and the Nym Squad League will also be shared on the Nym Forum as well.
Status updates with new community proposals, ongoing work, and more will be posted on a weekly basis to keep Squad League participants informed.
Discord handles are no longer needed to join NSL! The onboarding process will be simplified. Members only need to share their information *as required* for specific missions. If someone wishes to participate This makes onboarding as simple as just signing up on the Nym Forum.

Let’s keep this conversation going!

We invite all of our community members, operators, Nymjas, and followers to keep this conversation going. Keep an eye on the Nym Matrix server for details about the next Friday hangout, and if you have any suggestions or proposals, please share them there or on the Nym Forum.