Personas

1. Individual developer (first-timer)

Characteristics

Moderately experienced developer
Feels some sense of ownership over the project ("I want to share this with the world")
Sees self as ultimate decisionmaker
Still building community reputation
Has never open sourced a project before

Primary goals

Wants people to notice their project
Wants people to actually use the project and give feedback

Frustrations/pain points

Doesn't know how to find an audience

2. Individual developer (multiple projects)

Characteristics

Experienced developer
Feels some sense of ownership over the project ("I want to share this with the world")
Sees self as ultimate decisionmaker
Has a decent community reputation
Has open sourced a project before. May manage multiple projects
Likely manages projects on their own time (volunteer work)

Primary goals

Manage personal time so project demands don't become overwhelming
Find other contributors or maintainers to help with the project

Frustrations/pain points

Feeling burned out, exhausted from open source work

3. Community developer

Characteristics

Experienced developer
Wants to share ownership of the project ("I want to build this with others")
Sees community, not self, as ultimate decisionmaker
Has a decent audience/reputation
Has open sourced personal projects before
Likely manages projects on their own time (volunteer work)

Primary goals

Get people to participate, contribute back to the project
Make sure everybody involved with the project is happy and has a good experience

Frustrations/pain points

Managing a community is exhausting, especially when it's volunteer work

4. Corporate entity

Characteristics

Team of employees working at the same company. Primarily engineering, but likely multiple stakeholders across functions
Likely feels some sense of ownership over the project ("We are open sourcing this project to the community")
Company plays a clear role in decisionmaking
May not have open sourced a project before
Projects are managed by paid employees
Cares about fostering a healthy community, but does not necessarily want to share ownership in a formal capacity

Primary goals

Improve brand and reputation
- Attract new technical talent for recruiting (make sure people hear about it)
Grow a platform (get people to use it)

Frustrations/pain points

Balancing community + corporate needs
- (For community: being a good corporate citizen, respecting cultural norms)
- (For corporate: adhering to company policies)
Making sure people know about the project