Improve Zowe description on zowe.org

[nannanli]

There are several issues with the current zowe.org Zowe overview page:

• Currently, the Zowe description as well as the demo video are out of date. They should be updated to add the Zowe Explorer and Zowe Client SDKs components.
• Zowe value proposition is not obvious to get from the current page.
• This page is not visual enough and the description section is now text busy.

Solution:

• Better to add a one-sentence short description that could briefly describe Zowe first
• Better to highlight the Zowe value/benefits to attract users
• Update the Zowe components section to ensure it's up-to-date and accurate.
• Use more visuals such as the UI of Zowe components to attact and convert users, shorten the learning curve of Zowe.

One design prototype as follows: (There is also suggestion that we could consider the CLI, Explorer, and SDK to all be closely related client-components).

[nannanli]

Adding ZLC folks @armstro @Joe-Winchester @MarkAckert @1000TurquoisePogs @PeterFandelAtRocket @pdubz3 for comments. Thanks!

[pdubz3]

(It's @pdubz3 not @pdubzq) I noticed that the client SDK has already been added to the landing page at zowe.org but it's not clear that it's still in incubation. Obviously Zowe Explorer needs to be added, and I would expect Zowe Mobile as well if we're adding incubations.

[Joe-Winchester]

@nannanli - I like the diagram above with the five components a lot ! I agree that the Zowe Explorer + CLI + SDKs should be grouped together and also APIML and Zowe Desktop grouped. This is similar to what you did with the update to the organization of the downloads page for the different builds.

[Joe-Winchester]

For SDK there are actually three different ones - Node, Swift and Python, so we might want to have mini tiles within the SDK tile to let folks know about each one.

[BrandonJenkins14]

For the SDKs, happy to remove that if we shouldn't advertise them. I added the description bc it was acceptance criteria for a story, and we simultaneously published Node.js SDK packages to Zowe.org Downloads page. Python and Swift are available via online registries. Not sure about incubation status of those.

[pdubz3]

@BrandonJenkins14 I think we should include the SDKs. I think we should include every component. Zowe Mobile, Zowe Explorer, all of them. And I think we should be clear about the current state of each, which ones are in incubation for example.

[armstro]

Hey Ashley - sorry to be slow to reply - a few comments:

1) I think On Boarding squad was rethinking the personas of zowe.org.. adding @RASakach or on status of that effort - I thought we were looking to make more appealing to possible code contributors and not too targeted at download and consumers? I think in addition to download there should be some link to "learn how to contribute" or something similar.

2) I also thought there was persona based searching for help somehow planned.

3) For the words next to the Overview video I recommend we remove the term "host" in the description since it sounds like we are somehow host a runtime environment when actually we are hosting software only.

Something like "Zowe is an open source project that also provides a downloadable executable for z/OS environments. Anyone can use the software to either make use of the built in services or to provide extensions to Zowe. z/OS customers, Independent Software Vendors and System Integrators can use Zowe."

4) Is anyone working on an updated Overview? We've had several customer events lately - their might be one we could edit and reuse or the material to record a short video.

5) I agree we should say something about SDK and Mobile - I am not sure everyone will understand "incubator" - maybe has a category of "under development".

So I like the direction - just want to me sure we don't publish and then to need to change it right away.

[pdubz3]

@armstro (4. Is anyone working on an updated Overview?) I just completed an overview for the Open Mainframe Mini-Summit at OSS EU and I refreshed the Zowe overview deck for some currency items, but other than that I didn't change the content or the flow. It's also in the LF template used for the conference. I'll attach the deck here for reference. But I also know that @RASakach told me she was working on an updated overview, so I recommend letting her answer your question before doing anything else with the overview.
OSS_2020_Oct30_Zowe_DuBois.pptx

[nannanli]

Thanks all for the comments! It’s great to learn that we already have some good updated content for the overview. I know that the onboarding squad (@RASakach and Ilya) is redesigning the site to be persona-based and I had a discussion with Ilya about the overview part (text + video).

I suggest that we finalize the overview text first so Ilya could make a design based on the content. Also perhaps we need a plan (if not already) to update the video (timeline, video outline/how do we want to tell the story, and who can provide input, etc). As a starting point, I'll summarize the discussion so far and let @RASakach chime in. : )

• For the brief introduction,
  • remove the term "host" in the description.
  • reusable content include the deck that Michael updated (OSS_2020_Oct30_Zowe_DuBois.pptx)
• For the Zowe components, include all current components and make their status clear. Can group them into client-side or server-side ones to match the download experience.
  • API Mediation Layer
  • Zowe Application Framework
  • Zowe CLI
  • Zowe Explorer
  • Zowe Client SDKs (Node, Swift, and Python) *_Under development_**
  • Zowe Mobile App *_Under development_**

[armstro]

I would be a little careful about using server side and client side as we are getting ready to Docker-enable parts of Zowe (like Desktop and API ML) so while they have been server side components there will be options on where to deploy in the future. For example, Desktop and API ML being able to run on Linux Intel for a developer to use.

In general I agree with your edit plans - it will be good to do another iteration for review by the teams. Thanks for your help on this.

[nannanli]

Just a quick update. I'm working with Ilya to update the design for the Zowe overview part. Will review the new design with teams later.

[nannanli]

@armstro @Joe-Winchester @pdubz3 Hi all, the missing components description are now added to the zowe description on zowe.org. The Pull Request is here: https://github.com/zowe/zowe.github.io/pull/110 and you can preview the changes via https://deploy-preview-110--condescending-dubinsky-4645a9.netlify.app/.

I know that the site is being redesigned. This PR addresses only the description as a priority based on the previous discussion in this issue. Could you take a look and provide comments if any? Thanks! fyi @IgorCATech

[Joe-Winchester]

@nannanli - this looks really good !

Suggestions:

• Beneath Zowe Explorer have a horizontal separator of some kind to keep the top 4 components apart from the bottom 2
• Zowe Client SDKs are labelled (under development) which is great. For Zowe Mobile rather than use the same (under development) instead call it (Incubator) as its status is different to the SDKs.

(Image of the areas I'm discussing below)

[nannanli]

@Joe-Winchester Thanks for the suggestions! The page is updated. See https://deploy-preview-110--condescending-dubinsky-4645a9.netlify.app/. Here is an image of the section.

[Joe-Winchester]

@nannanli - looks nice with the separators - thank you. Looking at the site and thinking about visual appearance and graphics I'm wondering if there is a layout that could include some overview graphics for each of the components. It might be nice to have a screen grab of the CLI, the Zowe Explorer, the Desktop, the API Mediation Layer, the Mobile project, next to each of the projects as eye candy.
To make that effective perhaps move the overview video to another area of the site, or make it smaller as it currently takes about 40% of the horizontal space away from the project overviews. However, as-is this site looks great so please feel free to release without adding graphics if that's going to slow things down

[nannanli]

@Joe-Winchester We will include graphics for each component as part of the redesign that Ilya's been doing. Also the layout will be updated to accommodate the changes.