Addressing OSS Community Managers’ Challenges in Contributor Retention
This program is tentative and subject to change.
Open-source software (OSS) community managers face significant challenges in retaining contributors, as they must monitor activity and engagement while navigating complex dynamics of collaboration. Current tools designed for managing contributor retention (e.g., dashboards) fall short by providing retrospective rather than predictive insights to identify potential disengagement early. Without understanding how to anticipate and prevent disengagement, new solutions risk burdening community managers rather than supporting retention management. Following the Design Science Research paradigm, we employed a mixed-methods approach for problem identification and solution design to address contributor retention. To identify the challenges hindering retention management in OSS, we conducted semi-structured interviews, a multi-vocal literature review, and community surveys. Then through an iterative build-evaluate cycle, we developed and refined strategies for diagnosing retention risks and informing engagement efforts. We operationalized these strategies into a web-based prototype, incorporating feedback from 100+ OSS practitioners, and conducted an in situ evaluation across two OSS communities. Our study offers (1) empirical insights into the challenges of contributor retention management in OSS, (2) actionable strategies that support OSS community managers’ retention efforts, and (3) a practical framework for future research in developing or validating theories about OSS sustainability.
This program is tentative and subject to change.
Thu 16 AprDisplayed time zone: Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil change
11:00 - 12:30 | Human and Social Aspects 6Research Track / Journal-first Papers at Oceania V Chair(s): Silvia Abrahão Universitat Politècnica de València | ||
11:00 15mTalk | Developer reactions to protestware in open source software: the cases of color.js and es5.ext Journal-first Papers Youmei Fan Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Dong Wang Tianjin University, Supatsara Wattanakriengkrai Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Hathaichanok Damrongsiri Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Christoph Treude Singapore Management University, Hideaki Hata Shinshu University, Raula Gaikovina Kula The University of Osaka Link to publication DOI Pre-print | ||
11:15 15mTalk | Addressing OSS Community Managers’ Challenges in Contributor Retention Journal-first Papers Zixuan Feng Oregon State University, USA, Katie Kimura Oregon State University, Bianca Trinkenreich Colorado State University, Igor Steinmacher RESHAPE LAB, Northern Arizona University, USA, Marco Gerosa Northern Arizona University, Anita Sarma Oregon State University Pre-print | ||
11:30 15mTalk | The whos, whats, and whys of issues related to personal data and data protection in open-source projects on GitHub Journal-first Papers Anne Hennig Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Lukas Schulte University of Passau, Steffen Herbold University of Passau, Oksana Kulyk IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Peter Mayer University of Southern Denmark Link to publication DOI | ||
11:45 15mTalk | “Write in English, Nobody Understands Your Language Here”: A Study of Non-English Trends in Open-Source Repositories Research Track Masudul Hasan Masud Bhuiyan CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, Germany, Manish Kumar Bala Kumar CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, Cristian-Alexandru Staicu TU Darmstadt | ||
12:00 15mTalk | How Does Core Contributor Disengagement Impact Open Source Project Activity? A Quasi-Experiment Research Track Yunqi Chen Zhejiang University, Klaas-Jan Stol Lero; University College Cork; SINTEF Digital , Fabio Marcos De Abreu Santos Colorado State University, USA, Daniel M. German University of Victoria, Bianca Trinkenreich Colorado State University | ||
12:15 15mTalk | An empirical Analysis of Community and Coding Patterns in OSS4SG vs. Conventional OSS Research Track Mohamed Ouf Queen’s University, Shayan Noei Queen's University, Zeph Van Iterson Queen's University, Mariam Guizani Queen's University, Canada, Ying Zou Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario | ||